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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 120 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. press — to push
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. drill — the tool
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. press — newspapers
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. ball — a great time
  12. tear — to rip
  13. ball — a dance
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. kid — child
  16. pitch — completely
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — army training
  20. content — the amount
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. press — a publisher

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