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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bark — to shout
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. track — a song
  12. degree — temperature
  13. land — to come down
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. content — the amount
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. land — ground
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. track — a path
  20. content — happy
  21. land — a country
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. track — to keep track
  24. degree — from a university

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