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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: bay · press · bulb · degree · deal · field · content · march

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. press — a publisher
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. degree — an amount
  7. press — to push
  8. march — the month
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bulb — for light
  11. deal — to handle
  12. field — a subject
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. march — music
  20. press — newspapers
  21. field — for sport
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. field — farmland

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