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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bark — to shout
  3. mine — for digging
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. kick — in football
  6. tube — the underground
  7. last — finally
  8. tear — from crying
  9. content — the amount
  10. last — to go on
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. stand — to bear
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. tube — a container
  24. last — final

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