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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. season — in sport
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. face — to point toward
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cell — a phone
  12. face — to confront
  13. band — a ring
  14. cell — in biology
  15. band — a music group
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. ground — a position
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. ground — the earth
  20. face — part of the head
  21. degree — from a university
  22. season — of the year
  23. dip — to sink
  24. pitcher — a jug

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