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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. content — the amount
  4. spell — a short time
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. craft — boats
  7. spell — letters
  8. rest — a break
  9. degree — from a university
  10. board — to get on
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — to tease
  14. prune — to trim
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spell — magic
  17. kid — child
  18. degree — an amount
  19. board — a committee
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. rest — what's left
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. craft — a skill
  24. degree — temperature

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