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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 120 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: pit · bound · wake · fork · tear · cell · content · degree

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bound — certain
  5. fork — in a road
  6. wake — a trail
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. content — the amount
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — in a race
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. tear — from crying
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bound — obliged
  23. degree — temperature
  24. content — happy

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