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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. present — a gift
  6. cold — an illness
  7. prune — to trim
  8. present — there
  9. lean — to bend
  10. present — the time now
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — not warm
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. foot — a measure
  19. lean — thin
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. content — happy
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pound — a weight

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