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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. content — the amount
  3. bank — for money
  4. net — for catching
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spell — a short time
  7. bank — of a river
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — happy
  10. spell — magic
  11. degree — from a university
  12. roll — a cake
  13. spell — letters
  14. degree — temperature
  15. roll — a list
  16. net — after costs
  17. cold — an illness
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pound — a weight
  21. net — in sport
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. cold — not warm

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