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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — happy
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. saw — the tool
  8. scale — size or range
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. degree — from a university
  12. kid — child
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — temperature
  18. chest — a box
  19. fine — high quality
  20. content — the amount
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. scale — in music
  24. fine — all right

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