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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. branch — a division
  3. content — happy
  4. tear — to rip
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. wake — a trail
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. field — for sport
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. object — to protest
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. object — an aim
  16. field — a subject
  17. object — a thing
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. tear — from crying
  20. content — the amount
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. field — farmland
  24. hide — to keep secret

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