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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bound — tied together
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bound — certain
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cold — an illness
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wax — to grow
  15. bear — the animal
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. last — to go on
  18. content — happy
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. bear — the animal
  21. last — final
  22. content — the amount
  23. bound — obliged
  24. coach — a trainer

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