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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: squash · pit · content · degree · deal · cold · stand · present

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. degree — an amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. degree — from a university
  5. present — the time now
  6. cold — an illness
  7. squash — the sport
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pit — in a race
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. degree — temperature
  15. squash — to crush
  16. deal — to handle
  17. content — happy
  18. pit — a hole
  19. present — there
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. present — a gift
  22. stand — to bear
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. cold — the Cold War

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