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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. last — final
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. fine — all right
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. foot — a measure
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. content — the amount
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. last — finally
  17. wake — a trail
  18. fine — high quality
  19. bat — the animal
  20. sharp — clever
  21. last — to go on
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — happy

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