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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: rush · deal · content · can · snap · land · degree · spell

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. spell — magic
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. snap — to click
  6. deal — to handle
  7. land — to come down
  8. can — a tin
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. rush — hurry
  11. land — a country
  12. spell — a short time
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. land — ground
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. can — to be able to
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. can — a tin
  21. spell — letters
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. degree — from a university
  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