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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. object — an aim
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. prune — to trim
  6. content — the amount
  7. squash — to crush
  8. squash — the sport
  9. face — to point toward
  10. object — a thing
  11. chest — of your body
  12. prune — to trim
  13. object — to protest
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. chest — a box
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. face — to confront
  21. chest — of your body
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. face — part of the head

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