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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: march · content · row · degree · chest · pop · can · wave

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. degree — from a university
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — soda
  6. content — the amount
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. chest — a box
  9. row — a line
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. chest — of your body
  13. march — the month
  14. degree — temperature
  15. can — to be able to
  16. can — a tin
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pop — to visit
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. content — happy
  21. march — music
  22. can — a tin
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chest — of your body

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