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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: bound · content · pass · kid · arm · racket · degree · cue

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. pass — a permit
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. cue — a hint
  7. degree — from a university
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. degree — temperature
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. bound — obliged
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. cue — for pool
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. bound — tied together
  21. content — the amount
  22. cue — a signal
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bound — certain

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