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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: sharp · tear · bay · cold · land · ball · mug · content

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. content — happy
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — to come down
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mug — a face
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. mug — to rob
  12. mug — a cup
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ball — a dance
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. content — the amount
  17. ball — a great time
  18. sharp — clever
  19. land — ground
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. land — a country

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