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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 water is too ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. degree — an amount
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. rock — a stone
  7. band — a ring
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rock — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. craft — a skill
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. band — a music group
  16. bass — the fish
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. dip — to sink
  19. craft — boats
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. degree — from a university
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. bass — low music

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