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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rest — what's left
  6. scale — size or range
  7. content — happy
  8. mate — a friend
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. scale — in music
  11. tube — the underground
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. rest — a break
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rule — government
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. mate — a partner
  19. tube — a container
  20. rule — a law
  21. content — the amount
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rest — what's left
  24. mate — to breed

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