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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. degree — temperature
  4. track — a path
  5. present — a gift
  6. lean — thin
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. lean — to bend
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. present — there
  12. track — a song
  13. degree — an amount
  14. track — to keep track
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. content — the amount
  17. present — the time now
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. mine — for digging
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. content — happy
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. stem — to come from

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