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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: bat · march · season · tear · content · cold · sharp · firm

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. tear — from crying
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. march — the month
  5. season — of the year
  6. content — the amount
  7. tear — to rip
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. firm — a company
  11. firm — decided
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. firm — steady
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bat — the animal
  18. content — happy
  19. march — music
  20. season — in sport
  21. sharp — clever
  22. march — the month
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — for baseball

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