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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. squash — the sport
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cue — for pool
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mine — for digging
  12. degree — from a university
  13. content — happy
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. cue — a hint
  20. ground — a position
  21. squash — to crush
  22. ground — the earth
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. degree — an amount

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