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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. wound — an injury
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — happy
  6. fall — the season
  7. tear — to rip
  8. degree — from a university
  9. spring — of water
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wind — moving air
  12. degree — temperature
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spring — a coil
  17. rock — music
  18. wind — moving air
  19. content — the amount
  20. degree — an amount
  21. spring — the season
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. tear — from crying
  24. rock — a stone

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