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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. band — a ring
  3. mark — a trace
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. degree — from a university
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. content — the amount
  9. tube — a container
  10. band — a music group
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mark — a grade
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. fork — in a road
  16. wound — an injury
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. tube — the underground
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wind — moving air
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wound — an injury

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