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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: tear · content · mark · wound · deal · charge · kid · degree

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. tear — from crying
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. charge — in control
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. degree — an amount
  8. content — happy
  9. kid — child
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. mark — a trace
  15. kid — to tease
  16. wound — an injury
  17. deal — to handle
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. charge — a price
  20. charge — electricity
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. content — the amount

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