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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rash — hasty
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. root — the cause
  10. band — a ring
  11. root — of a word
  12. pop — soda
  13. band — a music group
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. pop — to visit
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pop — music
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a line
  22. root — of a plant
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. dip — to sink

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