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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: bear · cell · race · trunk · content · lie · degree · safe

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. cell — in biology
  4. degree — temperature
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cell — a phone
  9. race — a contest
  10. degree — from a university
  11. race — the arms race
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. degree — an amount
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. lie — to recline
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. bear — the animal
  24. race — humankind

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