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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. club — for dancing
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. band — a ring
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — to play on
  12. club — for golf
  13. band — a music group
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. wound — an injury
  16. club — a group
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. stem — to come from
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. swing — music
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. leaves — to go away

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