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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: mouse · degree · cold · object · bound · content · chest · bear

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. degree — from a university
  7. chest — of your body
  8. object — a thing
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. bear — the animal
  11. cold — not warm
  12. degree — an amount
  13. content — happy
  14. object — an aim
  15. bear — the animal
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. content — the amount
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — certain
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. cold — an illness
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bound — tied together
  24. degree — temperature

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