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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. tear — from crying
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. content — the amount
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. content — happy
  11. can — a tin
  12. last — to go on
  13. can — to be able to
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. march — the month
  17. last — final
  18. can — a tin
  19. last — finally
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. foot — a measure
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. tear — to rip
  24. foot — part of the body

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