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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 116 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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. cold — not warm
  3. degree — from a university
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bound — certain
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pit — in a race
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. kick — in football
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bound — tied together
  12. content — happy
  13. pit — a hole
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. content — the amount

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