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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. pop — to visit
  9. current — happening now
  10. row — a line
  11. degree — from a university
  12. bank — for money
  13. cap — a lid
  14. bank — for money
  15. bank — of a river
  16. pop — music
  17. content — the amount
  18. row — to paddle
  19. pop — soda
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cap — of ice
  22. current — electric
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. current — of water

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