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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 120 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: tear · lie · can · nail · bowl · content · bark · degree

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. can — a tin
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. degree — temperature
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — to recline
  13. can — a tin
  14. can — to be able to
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. tear — to rip
  24. nail — on a finger

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