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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. last — to go on
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. content — the amount
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — in sport
  9. tear — from crying
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. last — final
  12. season — of the year
  13. rash — a series
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mine — for digging
  19. content — happy
  20. net — after costs
  21. tear — from crying
  22. last — finally
  23. season — in sport
  24. rash — hasty

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