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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. degree — an amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. cue — a hint
  6. degree — temperature
  7. craft — boats
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. degree — from a university
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. ground — the earth
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. content — the amount
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cue — for pool
  19. craft — a skill
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. ground — a position
  24. lie — to recline

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