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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. charge — electricity
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. firm — decided
  5. cold — not warm
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bore — to tire
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. spell — magic
  14. degree — temperature
  15. shower — rain
  16. dip — to sink
  17. degree — an amount
  18. firm — steady
  19. bore — to drill
  20. firm — a company
  21. charge — in control
  22. cold — an illness
  23. charge — a price
  24. degree — from a university

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