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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. content — happy
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. content — the amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. season — in sport
  13. chip — to eat
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. season — of the year
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. chip — for betting
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. calf — of the leg

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