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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 116 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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Word bank
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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 · firm · straw · hand · bore · degree · row · cell

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. firm — decided
  3. degree — an amount
  4. firm — steady
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. row — a line
  7. row — to paddle
  8. cell — a phone
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. degree — temperature
  13. firm — a company
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. degree — from a university
  17. content — the amount
  18. bore — to drill
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bore — to tire
  23. hand — in cards
  24. row — a quarrel

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