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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. tear — to rip
  4. charge — electricity
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. lie — to recline
  9. tear — from crying
  10. content — the amount
  11. game — wild animals
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. charge — a price
  17. row — a line
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. game — a match
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. charge — in control

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