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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: content · kid · drill · file · degree · jam · toast · lean

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. kid — child
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. drill — a practice
  6. file — a line of people
  7. drill — the tool
  8. content — happy
  9. degree — from a university
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. degree — temperature
  13. kid — to tease
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. drill — army training
  18. lean — to bend
  19. degree — an amount
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. content — the amount
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. lean — thin

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