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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — the amount
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. mark — a grade
  8. dip — to sink
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. degree — temperature
  18. squash — the sport
  19. content — happy
  20. kid — child
  21. mark — a trace
  22. squash — to crush
  23. row — to paddle
  24. degree — an 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