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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pop — music
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. firm — a company
  9. degree — from a university
  10. content — the amount
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. pop — soda
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. content — happy
  17. pop — to visit
  18. firm — decided
  19. firm — steady
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wake — a trail
  24. content — videos and posts

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