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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — a stone
  4. lean — to bend
  5. wind — moving air
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bear — the animal
  12. cell — in biology
  13. lean — thin
  14. capital — a city
  15. content — the amount
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. capital — money
  20. content — happy
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. rock — to move gently

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