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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. bulb — for light
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chip — to eat
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. fork — in a road
  14. bulb — for light
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chip — for betting
  23. dip — to sink
  24. cold — an illness

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