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

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. content — happy
  3. degree — an amount
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. degree — from a university
  6. march — music
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. march — the month
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. content — the amount
  12. tear — from crying
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. season — in sport
  17. tear — to rip
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wake — a trail
  21. snap — to click
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. march — the month
  24. season — of the year

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