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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tear — from crying
  3. object — to protest
  4. spell — a short time
  5. sharp — clever
  6. content — happy
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. tear — to rip
  10. object — an aim
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pop — soda
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fall — the season
  17. spell — magic
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — to visit
  20. content — the amount
  21. fall — to drop
  22. object — a thing
  23. spell — letters
  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