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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. object — to protest
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. net — for catching
  6. prune — to trim
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cold — not warm
  10. prune — to trim
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. object — an aim
  14. rock — music
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. rock — a stone
  19. object — a thing
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. net — in sport
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. content — the amount
  24. net — after costs

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