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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. season — in sport
  3. tear — to rip
  4. fall — the season
  5. season — of the year
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. land — ground
  8. race — the arms race
  9. clip — to cut
  10. face — to confront
  11. clip — a video
  12. land — a country
  13. content — happy
  14. land — to come down
  15. race — a contest
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to point toward
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. fall — to drop
  20. race — humankind
  21. fall — to drop
  22. clip — for paper
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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