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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. shower — to wash
  4. hand — help
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. tube — a container
  9. wound — an injury
  10. content — the amount
  11. stem — to come from
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. spring — the season
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. content — happy
  22. shower — rain
  23. hand — in cards
  24. stem — of a plant

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