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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. present — a gift
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. content — happy
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. cell — in biology
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. land — to come down
  10. cell — a phone
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. present — there
  13. plane — a tool
  14. degree — from a university
  15. land — ground
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. degree — an amount
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. bat — the animal
  20. land — a country
  21. present — the time now
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. content — the amount

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