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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: present · bark · lie · content · jam · arm · rest · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. present — the time now
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. rest — a break
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rest — what's left
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. present — there
  12. bark — to shout
  13. content — happy
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. present — a gift
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. lie — to recline
  24. content — the amount

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