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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. degree — from a university
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fall — to drop
  9. craft — boats
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. fall — to drop
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wound — an injury
  14. content — happy
  15. craft — a skill
  16. fall — the season
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. content — the amount
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. bat — the animal
  24. ground — a position

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