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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. pass — a permit
  3. perch — the fish
  4. toast — bread
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. fall — to drop
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. content — the amount
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. content — happy
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. fall — to drop
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fall — the season
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. arm — part of the body

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