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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a music group
  5. staff — employees
  6. swing — to play on
  7. staff — employees
  8. kid — to tease
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spell — a short time
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. staff — a stick
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. swing — music
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. spell — letters
  20. swing — in golf
  21. kid — child
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  24. spell — magic

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