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

Word bank: cold · degree · present · pass · cell · content

  1. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to spend time
  2. cell — in biology
  3. present — there
  4. cold — an illness
  5. content — the amount
  6. pass — a permit
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. degree — temperature
  10. content — happy
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. present — the time now
  13. cell — a phone
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. cold — not warm
  18. present — a gift

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