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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 120 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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — a trail
  4. content — the amount
  5. degree — an amount
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. mate — to breed
  9. can — to be able to
  10. shower — rain
  11. rest — what's left
  12. degree — temperature
  13. march — music
  14. rest — a break
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mate — a partner
  17. content — happy
  18. can — a tin
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mate — a friend
  22. can — a tin
  23. rest — what's left
  24. degree — from a university

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