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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. field — a subject
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. fine — all right
  11. field — for sport
  12. content — the amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. degree — temperature
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. degree — an amount
  20. fine — high quality
  21. cold — an illness
  22. kid — child
  23. bear — the animal
  24. field — farmland

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