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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. march — music
  3. content — the amount
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. game — a match
  7. spring — a coil
  8. degree — temperature
  9. game — wild animals
  10. spring — the season
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. face — to confront
  13. face — part of the head
  14. degree — from a university
  15. face — to point toward
  16. content — happy
  17. spring — of water
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. degree — an amount
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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