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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. degree — temperature
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. degree — from a university
  8. drill — a practice
  9. squash — to crush
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. drill — the tool
  13. degree — an amount
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. kid — child
  17. drill — army training
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. chip — for betting
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. dip — to sink
  24. dip — a sauce

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