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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. fork — in a road
  4. kid — child
  5. land — ground
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. land — a country
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. land — to come down
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kid — to tease
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. stem — a stem cell

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