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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: content · pit · snap · branch · cap · rest · dip · degree

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. snap — to click
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. degree — temperature
  7. dip — to sink
  8. content — the amount
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cap — of ice
  11. rest — a break
  12. cap — a lid
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. degree — from a university
  15. pit — a hole
  16. cap — a hat
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. degree — an amount
  19. branch — a division
  20. pit — in a race
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — what's left
  24. content — videos and posts

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