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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. net — after costs
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. net — in sport
  6. degree — an amount
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. dip — to sink
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. spell — letters
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rest — a break
  16. cold — not warm
  17. sharp — clever
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — for light
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. spell — magic
  22. rest — what's left
  23. net — for catching
  24. spell — a short time

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