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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. march — the month
  3. pop — to visit
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. march — the month
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. pop — music
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pop — soda
  12. bark — to shout
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. march — music
  16. content — happy
  17. degree — an amount
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — a tool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. squash — to crush

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