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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. land — to come down
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. degree — an amount
  5. race — humankind
  6. land — ground
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. season — of the year
  11. degree — from a university
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. present — the time now
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. degree — temperature
  17. season — in sport
  18. land — a country
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. present — there
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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