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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  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. content — happy
  2. drill — army training
  3. pit — in a race
  4. suit — in cards
  5. suit — clothes
  6. cell — in biology
  7. degree — an amount
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. court — for sport
  10. degree — temperature
  11. suit — to fit
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. court — of law
  15. rash — a series
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. court — of a king
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. degree — from a university
  21. content — the amount
  22. pit — a hole
  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