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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. file — a document
  3. tear — to rip
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. file — a tool
  6. tear — from crying
  7. toast — bread
  8. plane — a tool
  9. spring — of water
  10. file — a line of people
  11. fork — in a road
  12. content — the amount
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spring — a coil
  15. present — there
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. present — the time now
  19. spring — the season
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. present — a gift
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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