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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. shower — rain
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cap — of ice
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. cap — a hat
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. cold — an illness
  15. scale — in music
  16. shower — to wash
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — a trail
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. lie — to recline
  23. degree — from a university
  24. scale — size or range

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