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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. can — to be able to
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. rest — what's left
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. degree — an amount
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. can — a tin
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. degree — from a university
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wake — a trail
  14. snap — to click
  15. content — happy
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. rest — what's left
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. rest — a break
  20. hand — in cards
  21. degree — temperature
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. can — a tin
  24. hand — help

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