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

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. cold — not warm
  3. swing — in golf
  4. degree — an amount
  5. track — a song
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bulb — for light
  9. track — to keep track
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bulb — for light
  13. swing — to play on
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fall — the season
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. track — a path
  23. swing — music
  24. fall — to drop

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