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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. scale — size or range
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. can — to be able to
  9. rash — hasty
  10. land — a country
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. content — happy
  15. rash — a series
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. content — the amount
  20. land — ground
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — a tin
  23. straw — dry grass
  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