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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. degree — from a university
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. bank — for money
  6. swing — to play on
  7. degree — an amount
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. bank — of a river
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bank — for money
  12. shower — rain
  13. stem — to come from
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. bore — to tire
  17. content — happy
  18. degree — temperature
  19. swing — in golf
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. swing — music
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. content — the amount

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