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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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. craft — boats
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. object — a thing
  7. chest — of your body
  8. craft — a skill
  9. present — a gift
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. content — the amount
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. present — the time now
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chest — of your body
  17. object — to protest
  18. chest — a box
  19. object — an aim
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — for light
  22. degree — from a university
  23. content — happy
  24. present — there

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