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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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Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. tear — from crying
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. land — ground
  5. tear — from crying
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. land — to come down
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. wind — moving air
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wind — moving air
  13. land — a country
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. content — happy
  20. tear — to rip
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. content — the amount

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