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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 120 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rule — a law
  8. bark — to shout
  9. squash — the sport
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. tear — to rip
  14. squash — to crush
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. content — happy
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rule — government
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. content — the amount
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. rest — a break

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