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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stock — goods
  3. land — to come down
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cell — a phone
  6. content — the amount
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. land — a country
  10. charge — a price
  11. charge — electricity
  12. cell — in biology
  13. stock — shares
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. hand — in cards
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. charge — in control
  20. content — happy
  21. land — ground
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. hand — help

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