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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spell — letters
  3. prune — to trim
  4. club — for golf
  5. tube — a container
  6. stock — shares
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. spell — magic
  15. club — for dancing
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. club — a group
  18. content — the amount
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. prune — to trim
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. tube — the underground
  24. spell — a short time

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