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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. court — of law
  3. tear — from crying
  4. roll — a cake
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. rest — a break
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. rest — what's left
  9. mate — a friend
  10. chest — of your body
  11. tear — to rip
  12. last — final
  13. tear — from crying
  14. content — the amount
  15. court — of a king
  16. chest — of your body
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. roll — a list
  20. rest — what's left
  21. mate — to breed
  22. chest — a box
  23. court — for sport
  24. content — happy

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