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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. cap — of ice
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bore — to drill
  5. club — for dancing
  6. tear — from crying
  7. club — for golf
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. club — a group
  14. spring — the season
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — a hat
  17. spring — of water
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. sharp — clever
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. content — happy

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