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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. content — happy
  3. bear — the animal
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mate — a partner
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. plane — a tool
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. bear — the animal
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a friend
  16. degree — an amount
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. content — the amount
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. content — videos and posts

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