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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  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 — videos and posts
  2. prune — to trim
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. prune — to trim
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. content — happy
  10. spell — letters
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spell — magic
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. mark — a grade
  15. spell — a short time
  16. key — the most important part
  17. mark — a trace
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. key — for a lock
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. key — in music
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. calf — of the leg
  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