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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. date — the fruit
  4. degree — an amount
  5. suit — in cards
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. spell — letters
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. suit — clothes
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spell — magic
  12. bass — the fish
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. content — happy
  16. spell — a short time
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. mine — for digging
  19. spring — of water
  20. content — the amount
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. spring — the season
  24. bass — low music

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