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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 112 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. degree — from a university
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. key — for a lock
  7. net — after costs
  8. bound — obliged
  9. file — a line of people
  10. bound — certain
  11. content — happy
  12. bound — tied together
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. net — in sport
  15. degree — temperature
  16. key — in music
  17. key — the most important part
  18. file — a tool
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. deal — to handle
  21. net — for catching
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. file — a document
  24. hide — to keep secret

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