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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. present — the time now
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wind — moving air
  5. content — happy
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. degree — from a university
  8. track — a song
  9. present — there
  10. track — to keep track
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. sharp — clever
  13. ball — a great time
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. content — the amount
  17. track — a path
  18. fall — to drop
  19. ball — a dance
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. fall — the season
  22. wind — moving air
  23. present — a gift
  24. sharp — exactly

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