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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. content — the amount
  3. hand — in cards
  4. field — farmland
  5. degree — from a university
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bore — to drill
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bore — to tire
  13. hand — help
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. content — happy
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. bulb — for light
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. kick — in football
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — a subject

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