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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. rash — hasty
  4. root — of a word
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. stem — to come from
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. file — a document
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. content — the amount
  12. craft — a skill
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. file — a tool
  15. root — of a plant
  16. craft — boats
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. root — the cause
  20. scale — size or range
  21. rash — a series
  22. file — a line of people
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. content — videos and posts

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