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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. deal — to handle
  3. degree — from a university
  4. file — a tool
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. degree — an amount
  10. content — happy
  11. craft — boats
  12. content — the amount
  13. craft — a skill
  14. snap — to click
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. last — to go on
  19. file — a document
  20. degree — temperature
  21. file — a line of people
  22. last — final
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. patient — a sick person

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