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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. hand — in cards
  7. cap — a lid
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. degree — temperature
  12. dip — to sink
  13. degree — an amount
  14. hand — help
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. cap — a hat
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. pitch — completely
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cabinet — ministers

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