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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. degree — from a university
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. firm — a company
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bore — to drill
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. degree — an amount
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bore — to tire
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. content — the amount
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. firm — decided
  20. content — happy
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. degree — temperature
  23. date — the fruit
  24. firm — steady

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