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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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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 · content · cue · perch · march · object · bear · kid

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. march — the month
  4. perch — the fish
  5. cue — a hint
  6. tear — from crying
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. content — the amount
  9. kid — child
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cue — a signal
  12. bear — the animal
  13. march — music
  14. bear — the animal
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. object — a thing
  19. march — the month
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. tear — from crying
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cue — for pool

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