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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. wound — an injury
  4. tube — a container
  5. content — happy
  6. wind — moving air
  7. drill — army training
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — in a road
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. charge — a price
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. tube — the underground
  22. charge — in control
  23. tear — from crying
  24. charge — electricity

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