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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: content · pound · craft · toast · tear · can · cold · mine

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. can — to be able to
  3. craft — a skill
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pound — a weight
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. toast — bread
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. can — a tin
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. tear — from crying
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. can — a tin
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. tear — from crying

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