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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · tear · toast · degree · wind · straw · wake · deal

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. toast — bread
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wake — a trail
  6. degree — from a university
  7. deal — to handle
  8. degree — an amount
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. content — happy
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. tear — to rip
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wind — moving air
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. content — the amount
  24. tear — from crying

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