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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. ground — crushed
  3. root — of a plant
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. can — to be able to
  6. can — a tin
  7. root — of a word
  8. can — a tin
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. lean — to bend
  18. ground — the earth
  19. root — the cause
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. content — the amount
  22. lean — thin
  23. ground — a position
  24. wave — with your hand

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