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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. content — the amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pop — soda
  5. degree — an amount
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. file — a tool
  9. pop — music
  10. season — of the year
  11. file — a document
  12. current — of water
  13. season — in sport
  14. file — a line of people
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. content — happy
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. current — electric
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bat — the animal

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