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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 120 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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lie — to recline
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. spring — the season
  7. content — the amount
  8. foot — a measure
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — happy
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bear — the animal
  14. spring — of water
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. cold — not warm
  18. spring — a coil
  19. swing — music
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. bear — the animal
  24. stem — to come from

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