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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tear — to rip
  3. content — happy
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. content — the amount
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. tear — from crying
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kick — in football
  10. fine — high quality
  11. cold — an illness
  12. shower — to wash
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. plane — a tool
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fine — all right
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. shower — rain
  24. plane — an aircraft

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