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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: present · last · bulb · content · tear · straw · track · fine

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. last — finally
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. last — to go on
  5. tear — to rip
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fine — all right
  8. last — final
  9. bulb — for light
  10. content — happy
  11. present — a gift
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. track — a song
  14. tear — from crying
  15. track — to keep track
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. present — there
  20. content — the amount
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. track — a path
  23. bulb — for light
  24. present — the time now

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