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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in biology
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. content — happy
  9. capital — a city
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. saw — the tool
  12. content — the amount
  13. capital — money
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — there
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. saw — the tool
  19. pound — a weight
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. stock — shares
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stock — goods

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