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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. craft — boats
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. spring — the season
  8. pass — a permit
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. chest — of your body
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — temperature
  16. spring — a coil
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spring — of water
  19. content — happy
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. degree — an amount
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. kick — in football
  24. craft — a skill

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