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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. hand — in cards
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. hand — help
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. content — the amount
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. row — to paddle
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. cap — a lid
  22. tear — from crying
  23. row — a line
  24. racket — for tennis

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