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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: content · ground · rock · wind · present · chest · mug · tear

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tear — from crying
  3. ground — a position
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chest — of your body
  6. present — there
  7. mug — a cup
  8. present — the time now
  9. ground — crushed
  10. content — the amount
  11. wind — moving air
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. present — a gift
  14. content — happy
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mug — to rob
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rock — music
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. ground — the earth
  21. rock — a stone
  22. mug — a face
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chest — a box

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