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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 124 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. march — the month
  5. net — for catching
  6. degree — temperature
  7. press — newspapers
  8. chest — of your body
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. chest — a box
  12. net — after costs
  13. press — a publisher
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. press — to push
  16. chest — of your body
  17. degree — an amount
  18. net — in sport
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. march — the month
  22. content — happy
  23. march — music
  24. degree — from a university

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