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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · content · object · pitcher · straw · leaves · clip · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cold — an illness
  3. clip — for paper
  4. object — a thing
  5. object — to protest
  6. clip — to cut
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. content — the amount
  15. content — happy
  16. clip — a video
  17. tear — to rip
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. object — an aim
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. leaves — to go away

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