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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. bark — to shout
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. file — a tool
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. content — happy
  12. chest — of your body
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. chest — of your body
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. content — the amount
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mine — for digging
  22. tear — to rip
  23. chest — a box
  24. shower — to wash

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