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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: lean · content · ground · file · tear · cell · capital · sharp

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. file — a tool
  3. lean — to bend
  4. content — the amount
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — crushed
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. file — a line of people
  10. capital — money
  11. tear — from crying
  12. content — happy
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. ground — a position
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. sharp — clever
  23. capital — a city
  24. file — a document

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