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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 120 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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. staff — employees
  3. bound — certain
  4. fine — high quality
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bound — tied together
  8. content — happy
  9. object — an aim
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. staff — employees
  13. content — the amount
  14. fine — all right
  15. bound — obliged
  16. object — to protest
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — to come from
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. object — a thing
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. staff — a stick
  24. shower — rain

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