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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. sharp — clever
  3. tear — to rip
  4. content — happy
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — the animal
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cold — not warm
  17. roll — a list
  18. roll — a cake
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. squash — the sport
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. cold — an illness

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