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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. key — the most important part
  9. degree — from a university
  10. field — for sport
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. field — farmland
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. key — in music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. fall — to drop
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. field — a subject
  24. degree — an amount

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