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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. fork — in a road
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. degree — an amount
  7. chest — of your body
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. degree — temperature
  11. content — the amount
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. suit — clothes
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. chest — a box
  16. content — happy
  17. squash — the sport
  18. shower — rain
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. degree — from a university
  21. squash — to crush
  22. suit — to fit
  23. chest — of your body
  24. tear — from crying

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