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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bound — certain
  3. lean — to bend
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. stem — to come from
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rule — a law
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. bound — obliged
  10. content — the amount
  11. bound — tied together
  12. saw — the tool
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rule — government
  15. lean — thin
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. kid — to tease
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. kid — child

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