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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cap — a hat
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — of ice
  6. content — happy
  7. clip — a video
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — for paper
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. season — in sport
  13. ground — crushed
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cap — a lid
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. content — the amount
  18. ground — the earth
  19. season — of the year
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — to cut
  22. ground — a position
  23. chest — of your body
  24. season — to add flavour

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