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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bear — the animal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mine — for digging
  5. degree — an amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. clip — a video
  9. bulb — for light
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. clip — to cut
  13. degree — temperature
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. content — happy
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. bulb — for light
  19. stem — to come from
  20. content — the amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — to put up with

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