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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — a stone
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. present — a gift
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. present — the time now
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — of water
  17. stem — to come from
  18. degree — from a university
  19. present — there
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. spring — a coil
  23. rock — music
  24. content — the amount

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