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

Word bank: spell · content · bowl · wind · arm · degree · march · kid

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wind — moving air
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wind — moving air
  5. spell — magic
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. spell — letters
  10. march — music
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. degree — from a university
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. degree — temperature
  15. march — the month
  16. spell — a short time
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. kid — to tease
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. kid — child
  21. degree — an amount
  22. content — happy
  23. march — the month
  24. bowl — a dish

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