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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 120 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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. degree — an amount
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. kid — child
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. dip — to sink
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bear — the animal
  13. spring — of water
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. kid — to tease
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — an illness
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cold — not warm
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cold — the Cold War

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