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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. present — there
  3. degree — an amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. present — the time now
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. present — a gift
  13. content — the amount
  14. kick — in football
  15. snap — to click
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. chest — a box
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wake — a trail
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. content — happy
  24. chest — of your body

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