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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. fall — to drop
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mug — a cup
  10. prune — to trim
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. can — to be able to
  13. fall — the season
  14. can — a tin
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fall — to drop
  17. mug — to rob
  18. dip — to sink
  19. content — the amount
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. can — a tin
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mug — a face
  24. prune — to trim

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