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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. toast — bread
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bass — low music
  6. cell — a phone
  7. date — the fruit
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bass — the fish
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — the amount
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wound — an injury
  23. content — happy
  24. bear — to put up with

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