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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. lean — to bend
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. march — the month
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. march — music
  8. lean — thin
  9. last — to go on
  10. board — a committee
  11. tear — from crying
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. tear — from crying
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. last — finally
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. march — the month
  20. mine — for digging
  21. last — final
  22. board — to get on
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. mine — belonging to me

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