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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pop — soda
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — happy
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. degree — from a university
  15. pop — music
  16. season — of the year
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. season — in sport
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. pop — to visit
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — temperature

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