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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. degree — from a university
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. capital — money
  9. content — the amount
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. kid — to tease
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. capital — a city
  16. content — happy
  17. degree — temperature
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. kid — child
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. dip — to sink
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. calf — a young animal

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