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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cap — a hat
  4. rest — a break
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rest — what's left
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cap — of ice
  11. dip — to sink
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pitch — completely
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cap — a lid
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. rest — what's left
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. game — a match
  22. degree — from a university
  23. perch — the fish
  24. degree — an amount

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