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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: bark · cabinet · content · press · ball · degree · sharp · chest

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. ball — a dance
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — the amount
  5. ball — a great time
  6. chest — of your body
  7. press — newspapers
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. chest — a box
  13. sharp — clever
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. degree — an amount
  17. press — to push
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — happy
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. press — a publisher
  24. degree — from a university

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