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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bore — to tire
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. content — the amount
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. court — of a king
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. snap — to click
  10. content — happy
  11. fork — in a road
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. court — of law
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. sharp — clever
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bore — to drill
  22. degree — temperature
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. degree — an amount

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