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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. lean — thin
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — a country
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. land — ground
  8. lean — to bend
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. date — the fruit
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. degree — temperature
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wind — moving air
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — happy
  19. ball — a great time
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. degree — from a university
  22. ball — a dance
  23. degree — an amount
  24. date — on the calendar

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