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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. wind — moving air
  8. root — the cause
  9. root — of a plant
  10. lean — to bend
  11. drill — army training
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. kid — child
  14. dip — to sink
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — to tease
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. drill — the tool
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. drill — a practice
  22. lean — thin
  23. date — the fruit
  24. root — of a word

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