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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. snap — to click
  3. toast — bread
  4. spring — of water
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. perch — the fish
  7. fine — all right
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. spring — the season
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. content — the amount
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. drill — a practice
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. content — happy
  17. drill — army training
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fine — high quality
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. spring — a coil
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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