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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. chest — of your body
  3. content — happy
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. saw — the tool
  7. tear — from crying
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bank — of a river
  10. bank — for money
  11. swing — music
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bank — for money
  17. chest — of your body
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. chest — a box
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. content — the amount
  24. swing — in golf

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