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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. content — the amount
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. content — happy
  6. land — ground
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. tear — to rip
  10. land — a country
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. degree — an amount
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. land — to come down
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. tear — from crying
  21. hand — help
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bowl — a football final

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