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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: kid · content · degree · ground · mug · fall · rash · bulb

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. rash — hasty
  3. rash — a series
  4. degree — temperature
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. kid — to tease
  7. content — happy
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. mug — to rob
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bulb — for light
  12. ground — a position
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. degree — an amount
  15. kid — child
  16. fall — the season
  17. degree — from a university
  18. ground — crushed
  19. fall — to drop
  20. mug — a cup
  21. mug — a face
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bulb — for light
  24. fall — to drop

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