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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stem — to come from
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. charge — electricity
  5. spring — of water
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. toast — bread
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. charge — in control
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. rash — a series
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. charge — a price
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. rash — hasty
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spring — a coil
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. spring — the season

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