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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · land · wake · content · perch · cabinet · bulb · chest

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. chest — a box
  7. land — ground
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wake — a trail
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bulb — for light
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. stem — to come from
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. content — the amount
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stem — a stem cell

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