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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: net · straw · mine · content · degree · field · snap · rock

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. net — in sport
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. field — for sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. content — happy
  12. rock — a stone
  13. net — after costs
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. content — the amount
  17. rock — music
  18. degree — an amount
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. snap — to click
  22. mine — for digging
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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