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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mate — a friend
  3. rule — government
  4. firm — decided
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. firm — steady
  11. degree — from a university
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mate — a partner
  20. degree — an amount
  21. firm — a company
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mate — to breed
  24. rule — a law

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