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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. chest — of your body
  3. can — to be able to
  4. bat — the animal
  5. roll — a list
  6. can — a tin
  7. stem — to come from
  8. content — happy
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. rock — music
  11. chest — a box
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. can — a tin
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. content — the amount
  16. rock — a stone
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. roll — a cake
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. chest — of your body

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