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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. degree — an amount
  3. field — a subject
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. net — in sport
  7. content — the amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. prune — to trim
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. net — for catching
  12. press — to push
  13. net — after costs
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. degree — from a university
  17. field — farmland
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. press — a publisher
  21. field — for sport
  22. content — happy
  23. prune — to trim
  24. press — newspapers

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