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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. deal — to handle
  3. race — humankind
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. degree — from a university
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. race — the arms race
  9. press — a publisher
  10. perch — the fish
  11. degree — temperature
  12. row — to paddle
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cap — of ice
  17. press — to push
  18. cap — a hat
  19. row — a line
  20. race — a contest
  21. degree — an amount
  22. cap — a lid
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. press — newspapers

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