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

Word bank: chair · lie · land · bear · drill · tear · bat · content

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. tear — to rip
  3. land — a country
  4. content — the amount
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. drill — the tool
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bear — the animal
  15. lie — to recline
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bear — the animal
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. content — happy
  22. drill — a practice
  23. bat — the animal
  24. chair — a leader

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