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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. dip — to sink
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kid — child
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. shower — rain
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. shower — to wash
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bark — to shout
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. content — happy
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. firm — steady
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. firm — a company
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. tear — to rip
  24. firm — decided

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