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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — high quality
  4. band — a ring
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cell — a phone
  7. content — happy
  8. lean — to bend
  9. cell — in biology
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. band — a music group
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. root — of a plant
  20. content — the amount
  21. root — of a word
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. root — the cause

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