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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 124 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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. tear — from crying
  4. chest — of your body
  5. kick — in football
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. chest — a box
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. tear — from crying
  10. lie — to recline
  11. tear — to rip
  12. degree — from a university
  13. content — happy
  14. degree — an amount
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. content — the amount
  17. vault — a safe
  18. row — a line
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. degree — temperature
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. chest — of your body
  23. row — to paddle
  24. kick — with a leg

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