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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a hat
  3. face — to confront
  4. tear — to rip
  5. bark — to shout
  6. pit — a hole
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. pit — in a race
  9. cap — a lid
  10. content — happy
  11. face — to point toward
  12. content — the amount
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. face — part of the head
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. tear — from crying
  18. object — an aim
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — to protest
  21. tear — from crying
  22. track — a song
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. track — a path

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