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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. ground — a position
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. ground — crushed
  5. degree — temperature
  6. ground — the earth
  7. fine — high quality
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cue — a signal
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. content — happy
  12. cue — for pool
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. fine — all right
  17. field — farmland
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. content — the amount
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. degree — an amount
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. hide — animal skin

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