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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. craft — a skill
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. content — happy
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. content — the amount
  9. lean — to bend
  10. bore — to drill
  11. pound — a weight
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. prune — to trim
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. craft — boats
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. bore — to tire

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