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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. content — the amount
  3. degree — an amount
  4. march — the month
  5. degree — from a university
  6. kid — to tease
  7. content — happy
  8. ball — a dance
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. march — music
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pound — a weight
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. degree — temperature
  16. ball — a great time
  17. current — electric
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. chair — a leader
  20. current — of water
  21. march — the month
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. kid — child
  24. current — happening now

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