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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. content — happy
  3. bore — to tire
  4. roll — a list
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. bore — to drill
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. degree — temperature
  14. tear — from crying
  15. court — for sport
  16. tear — to rip
  17. roll — a cake
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bark — to shout
  20. degree — an amount
  21. court — of a king
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. court — of law
  24. tear — from crying

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