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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 · cabinet · cold · tube · sharp · bear · content · chest

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. content — happy
  9. bear — the animal
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chest — a box
  13. tube — the underground
  14. chest — of your body
  15. tube — a container
  16. lean — thin
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. sharp — clever
  20. lean — to bend
  21. chest — of your body
  22. content — the amount
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. cabinet — ministers

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