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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 116 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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. tear — to rip
  5. capital — money
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. land — a country
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. present — there
  10. content — the amount
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. present — a gift
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. present — the time now
  20. land — to come down
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. land — ground
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. tear — from crying

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