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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. content — happy
  3. last — to go on
  4. degree — temperature
  5. last — final
  6. last — finally
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. degree — from a university
  10. club — for dancing
  11. club — for golf
  12. pit — a hole
  13. club — a group
  14. rash — a series
  15. content — the amount
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. pit — in a race
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — hasty

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