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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. race — humankind
  3. tear — from crying
  4. lie — to recline
  5. content — the amount
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. tear — from crying
  17. race — a contest
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. race — the arms race
  24. deal — an agreement

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