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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. content — happy
  3. plane — a tool
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pop — music
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. rash — hasty
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — soda
  15. rash — a series
  16. key — in music
  17. content — the amount
  18. key — for a lock
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. row — to paddle
  22. degree — an amount
  23. row — a line
  24. key — the most important part

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