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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 116 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. content — the amount
  3. saw — the tool
  4. fall — the season
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. fall — to drop
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. row — a line
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stem — to come from
  15. content — happy
  16. band — a music group
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. row — to paddle
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. fall — to drop
  24. calf — of the leg

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