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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. content — happy
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. court — of a king
  7. craft — boats
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. prune — to trim
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. staff — a stick
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. craft — a skill
  15. court — for sport
  16. season — in sport
  17. court — of law
  18. content — the amount
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. staff — employees
  21. prune — to trim
  22. staff — employees
  23. wake — a trail
  24. season — of the year

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