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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. content — happy
  3. mate — a partner
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. drill — the tool
  6. content — the amount
  7. drill — a practice
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bear — the animal
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. degree — temperature
  12. drill — army training
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bear — the animal
  16. squash — to crush
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bat — the animal
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a friend
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bat — in an idiom

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