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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. tube — the underground
  8. rock — music
  9. content — the amount
  10. spring — a coil
  11. content — happy
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. pop — soda
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. spring — the season
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. rock — a stone
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — music
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. tube — a container
  24. dip — to sink

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