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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. cap — a lid
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. bore — to drill
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bat — the animal
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. plane — a tool
  18. degree — temperature
  19. content — happy
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cap — a hat
  24. kick — in football

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