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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 124 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. kid — child
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitch — completely
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cue — a hint
  8. kid — to tease
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. spell — letters
  11. cold — an illness
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cue — for pool
  14. foot — a measure
  15. mark — a grade
  16. cue — a signal
  17. degree — from a university
  18. mark — a trace
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. cold — not warm
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. spell — magic

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