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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — to breed
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. lie — to recline
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. prune — to trim
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. capital — money
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. deal — to handle
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. rush — hurry
  23. mate — a friend
  24. content — the amount

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