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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. rule — a law
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. kick — in football
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. foot — a measure
  10. press — a publisher
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. shower — to wash
  13. degree — temperature
  14. content — happy
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bear — the animal
  18. press — newspapers
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. shower — rain
  21. rule — government
  22. bear — the animal
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. press — to push

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