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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: rest · toast · cap · content · pit · lie · degree · drill

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rest — a break
  3. cap — of ice
  4. pit — a hole
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. rest — what's left
  8. content — the amount
  9. pit — in a race
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — a practice
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. lie — to recline
  14. cap — a hat
  15. drill — army training
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. cap — a lid
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — from a university
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rest — what's left
  24. toast — bread

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