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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. file — a tool
  3. degree — temperature
  4. squash — to crush
  5. file — a document
  6. court — of a king
  7. present — the time now
  8. degree — from a university
  9. squash — the sport
  10. file — a line of people
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. court — for sport
  15. last — to go on
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. last — finally
  19. court — of law
  20. present — a gift
  21. last — final
  22. present — there
  23. content — the amount
  24. squash — the vegetable

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