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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 124 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. march — music
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. content — the amount
  8. snap — to click
  9. march — the month
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. degree — temperature
  12. mine — for digging
  13. degree — from a university
  14. content — happy
  15. field — a subject
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. march — the month
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. field — for sport
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — to bear
  24. field — farmland

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