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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. content — the amount
  3. pop — to visit
  4. wake — a trail
  5. scale — size or range
  6. tear — from crying
  7. content — happy
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. pop — soda
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. tear — to rip
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. pop — music
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. degree — temperature
  19. deal — to handle
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. tear — from crying
  23. staff — employees
  24. content — videos and posts

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