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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cue — a signal
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. content — happy
  12. fall — the season
  13. cue — for pool
  14. content — the amount
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cue — a hint
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fall — to drop
  22. tear — from crying
  23. band — a music group
  24. content — videos and posts

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