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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 124 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. squash — the sport
  3. content — happy
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. degree — temperature
  8. content — the amount
  9. march — the month
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. degree — an amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. land — a country
  17. stand — to bear
  18. chip — to eat
  19. land — ground
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. land — to come down
  23. kick — in football
  24. chip — for betting

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