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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 116 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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. degree — an amount
  3. shower — rain
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. net — in sport
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. last — to go on
  8. rule — government
  9. degree — temperature
  10. last — final
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rule — a law
  16. last — finally
  17. net — after costs
  18. tube — the underground
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. content — happy
  23. degree — from a university
  24. net — for catching

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