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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. stem — to come from
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. deal — to handle
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. root — of a word
  15. game — wild animals
  16. race — the arms race
  17. fork — in a road
  18. root — the cause
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — humankind
  21. game — a match
  22. root — of a plant
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wake — a trail

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