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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. wound — an injury
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. root — the cause
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lean — thin
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. root — of a plant
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. root — of a word
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. wind — moving air
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. lean — to bend
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. cap — a lid
  21. wound — an injury
  22. date — the fruit
  23. cap — a hat
  24. cap — of ice

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