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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 116 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. file — a document
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. race — humankind
  8. content — the amount
  9. march — the month
  10. cell — in biology
  11. file — a line of people
  12. race — a contest
  13. march — music
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cell — a phone
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. file — a tool
  18. content — happy

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