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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. degree — an amount
  3. deal — to handle
  4. bore — to tire
  5. degree — from a university
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. content — the amount
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. bat — the animal
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. content — happy
  15. bore — to drill
  16. degree — temperature
  17. file — a document
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. file — a tool
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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