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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. dip — to sink
  3. game — a match
  4. spring — a coil
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. file — a document
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. file — a tool
  10. game — wild animals
  11. chip — to eat
  12. lie — to recline
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. content — the amount
  16. degree — an amount
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. spring — of water
  19. content — happy
  20. file — a line of people
  21. chip — for betting
  22. degree — from a university
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. spring — the season

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