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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wind — moving air
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. degree — from a university
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. tube — a container
  10. degree — temperature
  11. chest — a box
  12. tube — the underground
  13. deal — to handle
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. content — happy
  18. degree — an amount
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — of your body
  23. branch — a division
  24. tube — in a tire

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