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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 116 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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  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. content — happy
  2. ground — the earth
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. tube — the underground
  8. degree — from a university
  9. ground — a position
  10. degree — an amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. ground — crushed
  13. face — part of the head
  14. sharp — clever
  15. face — to confront
  16. plane — a tool
  17. face — to point toward
  18. tube — a container
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. content — the 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