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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. perch — the fish
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. pop — to visit
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cold — an illness
  9. content — the amount
  10. date — the fruit
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stem — to come from
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pop — soda
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pop — music
  23. content — happy
  24. date — on the calendar

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