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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: hand · roll · tear · hide · chair · bulb · wind · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. roll — a cake
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. hand — help
  7. content — happy
  8. bulb — for light
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. roll — a list
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wind — moving air
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. wind — moving air
  19. tear — to rip
  20. chair — a leader
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. bulb — for light
  24. hand — part of the body

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