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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 university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. dip — to sink
  4. swing — in golf
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cap — of ice
  7. degree — an amount
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. swing — music
  11. degree — temperature
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. cold — an illness
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. shower — rain
  16. cap — a hat
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. cap — a lid
  20. swing — to play on
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. cold — not warm
  23. shower — to wash
  24. trunk — of a tree

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