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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. capital — money
  7. cold — an illness
  8. tube — a container
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. branch — a division
  14. degree — an amount
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cell — a phone
  17. tube — the underground
  18. cold — not warm
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. degree — from a university
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. cell — in biology
  23. capital — a city
  24. content — happy

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