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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 would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. content — the amount
  9. stem — to come from
  10. craft — a skill
  11. toast — bread
  12. bear — the animal
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. mark — a grade
  15. content — happy
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. clip — a video
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. craft — boats
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mark — a trace

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