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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. scale — in music
  3. file — a document
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. tube — a container
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. content — happy
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tear — to rip
  10. scale — size or range
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — of a word
  14. tube — the underground
  15. file — a tool
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. toast — bread
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. tear — from crying
  22. file — a line of people
  23. content — the amount
  24. root — the cause

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