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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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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: land · squash · pass · chest · degree · row · content · object

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. pass — a permit
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. object — a thing
  5. squash — to crush
  6. degree — temperature
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. chest — of your body
  10. row — to paddle
  11. chest — of your body
  12. squash — the sport
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. degree — from a university
  15. row — a line
  16. object — to protest
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. land — to come down
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. chest — a box
  21. land — ground
  22. degree — an amount
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. land — a country

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