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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.

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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 sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spring — of water
  5. present — the time now
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. present — a gift
  9. content — happy
  10. mine — for digging
  11. degree — temperature
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bat — the animal
  15. degree — an amount
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. content — the amount
  19. present — there
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. mine — an explosive

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