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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chair — a leader
  3. perch — the fish
  4. band — a ring
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. content — the amount
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. degree — from a university
  12. root — the cause
  13. degree — temperature
  14. band — a music group
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. content — happy
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bear — the animal
  19. root — of a plant
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. root — of a word
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. content — videos and posts

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