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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. scale — size or range
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. key — the most important part
  10. content — happy
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. scale — in music
  14. tear — to rip
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. clip — for paper
  17. key — in music
  18. shower — rain
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. shower — to wash
  21. key — for a lock
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. tear — from crying
  24. content — the amount

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