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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. mug — a cup
  3. tear — from crying
  4. file — a tool
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tear — to rip
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. file — a document
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. content — happy
  14. wound — an injury
  15. mug — a face
  16. wound — an injury
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mug — to rob
  20. plane — a tool
  21. content — the amount
  22. tear — from crying
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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