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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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Word bank
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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 · squash · cold · cue · nail · stick · content · tube

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. cue — for pool
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. squash — to crush
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. degree — an amount
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. content — the amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cue — a hint
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. tube — the underground
  16. cold — not warm
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. content — happy
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. squash — the sport
  21. cue — a signal
  22. tube — a container
  23. degree — temperature
  24. nail — for a hammer

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