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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. content — the amount
  3. land — ground
  4. tear — to rip
  5. content — happy
  6. clip — for paper
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bank — for money
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. snap — to click
  13. rest — what's left
  14. bank — of a river
  15. rest — a break
  16. wake — a trail
  17. land — a country
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rest — what's left
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. land — to come down
  24. bank — for money

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