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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tear — from crying
  3. content — the amount
  4. tear — to rip
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. degree — from a university
  12. race — the arms race
  13. tear — from crying
  14. game — wild animals
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. race — humankind
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. hand — help
  21. race — a contest
  22. foot — a measure
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — a match

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