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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. spell — a short time
  3. wake — a trail
  4. clip — to cut
  5. degree — from a university
  6. clip — a video
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — in a race
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bore — to drill
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. content — happy
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. spell — magic
  20. spell — letters
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. squash — the sport
  24. content — the 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