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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: content · hide · hand · degree · bat · sharp · tube · calf

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. tube — the underground
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. tube — a container
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. degree — from a university
  11. hand — help
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. content — happy
  20. bat — the animal
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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