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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. court — of a king
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. court — for sport
  10. degree — from a university
  11. court — of law
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mine — for digging
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. stem — to come from
  18. mate — to breed
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — for a computer

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