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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. mine — for digging
  4. can — a tin
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. file — a tool
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. can — to be able to
  15. can — a tin
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. hand — help
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. hand — in cards

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com