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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 124 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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. degree — from a university
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. content — happy
  7. perch — the fish
  8. degree — an amount
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. tube — a container
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. tube — the underground
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. bark — to shout
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. content — the amount
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. dip — to sink
  24. tube — in a tire

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