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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 your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. content — the amount
  8. season — in sport
  9. swing — in golf
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. bore — to drill
  13. content — happy
  14. kid — child
  15. capital — a city
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. degree — from a university
  18. season — of the year
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — music
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bore — to tire
  24. degree — temperature

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