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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. lean — thin
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. bear — the animal
  7. net — after costs
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cold — not warm
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. content — the amount
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — happy
  16. net — in sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. stem — to come from
  19. net — for catching
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. cold — an illness
  22. shower — rain
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. lean — to bend

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