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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 116 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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. drill — the tool
  5. stem — to come from
  6. land — to come down
  7. bound — tied together
  8. hand — help
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — army training
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bound — certain
  14. land — ground
  15. land — a country
  16. bulb — for light
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. content — the amount
  24. hand — part of the body

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