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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. perch — the fish
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. root — of a plant
  8. content — the amount
  9. root — of a word
  10. net — for catching
  11. kid — child
  12. net — after costs
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. kid — to tease
  15. cue — a hint
  16. mark — a grade
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cue — a signal
  19. cue — for pool
  20. degree — an amount
  21. content — happy
  22. net — in sport
  23. mark — a trace
  24. root — the cause

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