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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. content — happy
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — to wash
  5. content — the amount
  6. degree — an amount
  7. mine — for digging
  8. degree — from a university
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bore — to tire
  16. stand — to bear
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bear — the animal
  19. face — to confront
  20. bear — the animal
  21. face — part of the head
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bore — to drill

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