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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. ground — a position
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bore — to tire
  6. degree — temperature
  7. content — the amount
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bore — to drill
  10. ground — crushed
  11. wind — moving air
  12. band — a music group
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pit — in a race
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pit — a hole
  17. degree — an amount
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — happy
  21. stem — to come from
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. bore — gave birth

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