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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. content — happy
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. content — the amount
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bound — obliged
  15. tube — the underground
  16. stem — to come from
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. bound — certain
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bound — tied together
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. tube — a container

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