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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: tear · bark · cold · content · hand · mug · lean · scale

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. mug — to rob
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. tear — from crying
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — thin
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bark — to shout
  13. tear — to rip
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mug — a cup
  17. lean — to bend
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. hand — help
  21. mug — a face
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — in music

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