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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 120 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. kid — child
  3. content — the amount
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. drill — a practice
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rest — a break
  10. cap — of ice
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. kid — to tease
  13. content — happy
  14. degree — an amount
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. degree — temperature
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. drill — the tool
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cap — a hat
  22. drill — army training
  23. cap — a lid
  24. hand — in cards

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