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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: march · bay · pop · land · degree · dip · content · deal

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  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. bay — a horse colour
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. degree — from a university
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. pop — soda
  6. land — to come down
  7. degree — temperature
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. land — a country
  10. march — the month
  11. pop — to visit
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. march — the month
  14. land — ground
  15. march — music
  16. deal — to handle
  17. dip — to sink
  18. content — happy
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pop — music
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  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