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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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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: clip · content · suit · shower · degree · bay · tear · bulb

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. shower — rain
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. clip — for paper
  7. degree — from a university
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. suit — in cards
  12. degree — an amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. suit — to fit
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. bulb — for light
  17. suit — clothes
  18. bulb — for light
  19. degree — temperature
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. tear — from crying
  22. content — happy
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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