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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 124 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. chair — a leader
  5. content — happy
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. content — the amount
  8. toast — bread
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. rash — a series
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. row — to paddle
  14. present — the time now
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. rash — hasty
  18. wound — an injury
  19. prune — to trim
  20. row — a line
  21. present — there
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wound — an injury
  24. toast — the most admired

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