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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 116 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. rash — hasty
  3. shower — rain
  4. saw — the tool
  5. mate — a partner
  6. lean — thin
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. dip — to sink
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. mate — a friend
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. degree — temperature
  16. shower — to wash
  17. pit — in a race
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. degree — from a university
  21. rash — a series
  22. saw — the tool
  23. lean — to bend
  24. dip — to dunk

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