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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 120 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fall — the season
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. bear — the animal
  6. mate — a friend
  7. fall — to drop
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. tear — from crying
  11. mate — to breed
  12. content — happy
  13. mate — a partner
  14. scale — in music
  15. content — the amount
  16. land — a country
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bear — the animal
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. fall — to drop

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