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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. tear — from crying
  3. track — a path
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. snap — to click
  6. tear — from crying
  7. can — to be able to
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. content — happy
  10. bear — the animal
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. degree — from a university
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. can — a tin
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. content — the amount
  18. track — a song
  19. track — to keep track
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bear — the animal
  22. tear — to rip
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an 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