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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. tube — the underground
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. degree — an amount
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. degree — from a university
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. mate — a partner
  11. degree — temperature
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mate — a friend
  15. content — happy
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. tube — a container
  18. roll — a list
  19. mate — to breed
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. snap — to click
  23. content — the amount
  24. tube — in a tire

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