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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. chip — to eat
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. tube — a container
  7. content — happy
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. chip — for betting
  12. tube — the underground
  13. pound — a weight
  14. sharp — clever
  15. squash — to crush
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. degree — an amount
  19. content — the amount
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. squash — the sport

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