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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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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: cell · pound · pop · straw · degree · toast · content · pitcher

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. cell — in biology
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. pop — soda
  17. toast — bread
  18. pound — a weight
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — to visit
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cell — a phone

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