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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bound — tied together
  5. present — there
  6. key — in music
  7. prune — to trim
  8. present — the time now
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. key — the most important part
  12. bound — obliged
  13. fall — the season
  14. fall — to drop
  15. game — wild animals
  16. key — for a lock
  17. content — the amount
  18. roll — a list
  19. present — a gift
  20. game — a match
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. bound — certain
  23. roll — a cake
  24. game — a kind of play

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