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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. can — a tin
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. lie — to recline
  6. can — a tin
  7. degree — an amount
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — the sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. content — happy
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. squash — to crush
  16. tear — from crying
  17. can — to be able to
  18. march — the month
  19. tear — to rip
  20. march — the month
  21. last — finally
  22. march — music
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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