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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. content — the amount
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — happy
  5. game — wild animals
  6. lie — to recline
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pound — a weight
  10. tear — from crying
  11. game — a match
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — a cake
  15. plane — a tool
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. chest — a box

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