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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. mark — a trace
  10. prune — to trim
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. mark — a grade
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. degree — an amount
  20. scale — size or range
  21. chest — of your body
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pitch — completely
  24. scale — in music

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