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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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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. swing — music
  3. degree — an amount
  4. shower — rain
  5. press — to push
  6. degree — temperature
  7. swing — to play on
  8. cap — a hat
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cap — a lid
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. press — a publisher
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. degree — from a university
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. cap — of ice
  18. swing — in golf
  19. dip — to sink
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. press — newspapers
  22. shower — to wash
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — happy

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