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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. degree — from a university
  7. content — happy
  8. cue — for pool
  9. land — ground
  10. land — a country
  11. cue — a signal
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. land — to come down
  14. degree — temperature
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. snap — to click
  17. perch — the fish
  18. cue — a hint
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pitcher — a jug

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