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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. content — the amount
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. swing — to play on
  6. hand — in cards
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. lean — to bend
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — happy
  11. stem — to come from
  12. lean — thin
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. ball — a great time
  15. field — a subject
  16. swing — in golf
  17. hand — help
  18. ball — a dance
  19. field — farmland
  20. swing — music
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. rule — a law
  23. field — for sport
  24. rule — government

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