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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mark — a grade
  3. race — a contest
  4. content — happy
  5. land — to come down
  6. squash — to crush
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bulb — for light
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. race — humankind
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. land — a country
  15. mark — a trace
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bulb — for light
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. content — the amount
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. race — the arms race
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. squash — the sport

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