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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. chest — of your body
  8. court — of law
  9. bore — to tire
  10. can — a tin
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rash — a series
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. bore — to drill
  15. track — a song
  16. track — a path
  17. court — of a king
  18. rash — hasty
  19. chest — a box
  20. can — a tin
  21. court — for sport
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. track — to keep track
  24. degree — temperature

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