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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bore — to tire
  6. net — in sport
  7. degree — an amount
  8. mine — for digging
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bore — to drill
  11. degree — from a university
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. clip — to cut
  14. content — the amount
  15. net — for catching
  16. chest — a box
  17. vault — a safe
  18. chest — of your body
  19. net — after costs
  20. clip — a video
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. clip — for paper
  23. content — happy
  24. mine — belonging to me

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