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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. content — the amount
  6. lie — to recline
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. rest — what's left
  12. stem — to come from
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. court — of law
  16. cold — an illness
  17. net — for catching
  18. court — of a king
  19. rest — what's left
  20. net — after costs
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. plane — a tool
  23. court — for sport
  24. rest — a break

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