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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. rule — a law
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rule — government
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. key — the most important part
  10. fall — to drop
  11. content — happy
  12. chair — a leader
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. key — in music
  16. degree — from a university
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. wound — an injury
  19. tear — from crying
  20. key — for a lock
  21. tear — to rip
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fall — the season
  24. degree — an amount

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