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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. degree — an amount
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. degree — from a university
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. pit — a hole
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rule — a law
  14. pit — in a race
  15. mark — a grade
  16. spring — of water
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. content — the amount
  21. spring — the season
  22. content — happy
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. mark — a trace

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