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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · content · bear · degree · bark · scale · fine · hand

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. degree — temperature
  3. fine — all right
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. degree — an amount
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hand — in cards
  9. content — happy
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chair — a leader
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bear — the animal
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. hand — help
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. fine — high quality
  22. scale — size or range
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. content — the amount

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