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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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. bay — a horse colour
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. vault — a safe
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. kid — child
  9. ball — a dance
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — temperature
  19. kid — to tease
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. ball — a great time
  22. wound — an injury
  23. content — the amount
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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