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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. tear — from crying
  3. band — a ring
  4. content — the amount
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cap — a hat
  7. wound — an injury
  8. net — after costs
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. cap — of ice
  11. object — to protest
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. band — a music group
  14. object — an aim
  15. wound — an injury
  16. content — happy
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. object — a thing
  19. net — in sport
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. tear — to rip
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. net — for catching
  24. cap — a lid

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