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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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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  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. content — happy
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. tear — from crying
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. degree — an amount
  11. firm — a company
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. firm — decided
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. game — a match
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. game — wild animals
  23. firm — steady
  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