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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. rock — music
  3. content — happy
  4. band — a ring
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. degree — from a university
  10. band — a music group
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rock — a stone
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bore — to drill
  17. prune — to trim
  18. dip — to sink
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. degree — an amount
  21. content — the amount
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bore — to tire
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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