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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. cell — in biology
  6. content — the amount
  7. cell — a phone
  8. degree — temperature
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — to handle
  13. game — a match
  14. degree — an amount
  15. mark — a trace
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mark — a grade
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. content — happy
  23. degree — from a university
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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