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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. degree — an amount
  3. current — electric
  4. cold — an illness
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pit — a hole
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. roll — a cake
  14. pit — in a race
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — hurry
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. cold — not warm
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. roll — a list
  23. current — of water
  24. current — happening now

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