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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. tear — from crying
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. content — the amount
  5. craft — a skill
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bark — to shout
  9. craft — boats
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. row — to paddle
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. game — wild animals
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. content — happy
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. game — a match
  22. row — a line
  23. tear — from crying
  24. game — a kind of play

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