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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rule — government
  3. snap — to click
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rock — a stone
  7. rash — a series
  8. degree — temperature
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. rock — music
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. rule — a law
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. degree — an amount
  18. rash — on the skin

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