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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rash — hasty
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pop — music
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bat — the animal
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pop — soda
  12. ground — the earth
  13. pop — to visit
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. ground — a position
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. content — the amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ground — crushed
  24. rash — a series

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