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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.

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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. cold — not warm
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. content — happy
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — the underground
  10. content — the amount
  11. tube — a container
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. craft — boats
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bear — the animal
  16. swing — in golf
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bear — the animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. degree — from a university
  21. swing — music
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. craft — a skill
  24. cell — in a prison

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