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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. cap — of ice
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. present — there
  6. present — the time now
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cap — a hat
  9. tear — from crying
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cap — a lid
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — the amount
  14. rash — hasty
  15. degree — from a university
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. dip — to sink
  18. degree — temperature
  19. rash — a series
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. tear — to rip
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. present — a gift
  24. content — happy

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