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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. land — to come down
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. land — a country
  5. kid — child
  6. squash — the sport
  7. mark — a trace
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. degree — an amount
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. degree — temperature
  14. content — happy
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. land — ground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. mark — a grade
  20. tube — the underground
  21. kid — to tease
  22. degree — from a university
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. content — the amount

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