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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  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. bat — in an idiom
  2. cell — in biology
  3. march — the month
  4. tear — from crying
  5. content — the amount
  6. march — the month
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. fork — in a road
  10. march — music
  11. lean — thin
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. content — happy
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bat — the animal
  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