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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. net — for catching
  3. bear — the animal
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mark — a grade
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. degree — an amount
  10. craft — a skill
  11. net — after costs
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. row — a line
  14. perch — the fish
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. mark — a trace
  17. row — to paddle
  18. content — the amount
  19. craft — boats
  20. net — in sport
  21. bear — the animal
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. degree — temperature
  24. row — a quarrel

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