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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 116 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: spell · content · field · bay · present · cold · ruler · tear

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. present — there
  3. content — happy
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. cold — not warm
  8. content — the amount
  9. tear — from crying
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. present — a gift
  12. field — for sport
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. present — the time now
  17. field — a subject
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tear — to rip
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spell — magic
  22. field — farmland
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. ruler — for measuring

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