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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 120 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — an illness
  4. can — to be able to
  5. current — of water
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. can — a tin
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. can — a tin
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. fork — in a road
  17. stem — to come from
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — not warm
  20. content — happy
  21. content — the amount
  22. current — happening now
  23. current — electric
  24. stem — of a plant

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