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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 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. snap — to click
  3. cue — for pool
  4. degree — an amount
  5. cue — a hint
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. content — happy
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. degree — temperature
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cue — a signal
  15. wound — an injury
  16. scale — in music
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. scale — size or range
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. content — the amount
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. scale — for weighing

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