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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. last — to go on
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. degree — from a university
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. last — final
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. tear — from crying
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. bass — low music
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bass — the fish
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. last — finally
  24. nail — for a hammer

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