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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bass — low music
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. bass — the fish
  10. last — finally
  11. current — of water
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. cap — a hat
  14. current — electric
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cold — an illness
  21. content — happy
  22. current — happening now
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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