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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wind — moving air
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. dip — to sink
  7. mine — for digging
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. tear — from crying
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. wind — moving air
  18. object — a thing
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. object — to protest
  21. object — an aim
  22. content — the amount
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. tear — to rip

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