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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · content · cell · bark · bay · snap

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. snap — to click
  13. cell — a phone
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. content — happy
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. content — the amount
  18. cell — in biology

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