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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. firm — decided
  3. spell — magic
  4. bass — the fish
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bass — low music
  8. firm — steady
  9. spell — letters
  10. last — final
  11. last — to go on
  12. firm — a company
  13. content — happy
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. spell — a short time
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — the underground
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. wind — moving air
  21. tear — to rip
  22. last — finally
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. tube — a container

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