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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. content — the amount
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. spell — a short time
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stem — to come from
  12. mate — a partner
  13. mate — a friend
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. hand — help
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — magic
  19. mate — to breed
  20. content — happy
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. prune — to trim
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. temple — a place of worship

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