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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. present — a gift
  3. date — the fruit
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. degree — an amount
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. stand — to bear
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cue — a signal
  12. present — there
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cue — for pool
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. cue — a hint
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — from a university
  20. present — the time now
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cold — not warm
  24. degree — temperature

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