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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. content — happy
  3. degree — from a university
  4. row — a line
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cap — a hat
  7. ground — a position
  8. spring — a coil
  9. content — the amount
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. row — to paddle
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. cap — of ice
  15. ground — the earth
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. ground — crushed
  18. foot — a measure
  19. degree — an amount
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. spring — of water
  23. cap — a lid
  24. calf — of the leg

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