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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. degree — an amount
  3. drill — the tool
  4. content — happy
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. season — of the year
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mark — a trace
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. season — in sport
  14. rock — music
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rock — a stone
  17. drill — a practice
  18. mark — a grade
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. drill — army training
  21. prune — to trim
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. degree — temperature
  24. prune — to trim

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