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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. content — happy
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. object — an aim
  5. degree — temperature
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. press — to push
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. perch — the fish
  10. press — newspapers
  11. tear — from crying
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — to protest
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. craft — boats
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. tear — to rip
  18. press — a publisher
  19. tear — from crying
  20. craft — a skill
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — the amount
  24. degree — from a university

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