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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. drill — a practice
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. drill — the tool
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. degree — from a university
  14. content — the amount
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. drill — army training
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. fork — in a road
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — a coil
  24. bowl — a dish

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