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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: spell · snap · plane · kid · content · tear · degree · ground

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. degree — from a university
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. ground — the earth
  8. kid — child
  9. spell — letters
  10. tear — to rip
  11. spell — magic
  12. ground — a position
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. degree — temperature
  15. kid — to tease
  16. degree — an amount
  17. spell — a short time
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. tear — from crying
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. tear — from crying
  24. ground — crushed

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