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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: last · roll · content · arm · row · bass · tear · fall

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bass — low music
  4. roll — a cake
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bass — the fish
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. content — happy
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. tear — to rip
  12. last — finally
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. content — the amount
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. fall — the season
  18. last — final
  19. fall — to drop
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. last — to go on
  22. row — to paddle
  23. roll — a list
  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