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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: cell · perch · spring · degree · track · cold · bear · content

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. cell — in biology
  6. spring — a coil
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cold — not warm
  9. track — a path
  10. perch — the fish
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spring — of water
  13. bear — the animal
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — the season
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. track — a song
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. content — happy
  24. cell — in a prison

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