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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · safe · cell · wake · file · kid · content · pit

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. kid — child
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. file — a line of people
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pit — in a race
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cell — a phone
  10. kid — to tease
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. file — a document
  18. cell — in biology
  19. file — a tool
  20. wake — a trail
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. content — happy
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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