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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. prune — to trim
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cell — in biology
  18. hand — help
  19. fork — in a road
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. content — happy
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. prune — to trim

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