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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rock — a stone
  3. rock — music
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — the animal
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — from a university
  10. snap — to click
  11. cold — not warm
  12. degree — temperature
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — help
  16. tear — from crying
  17. dip — to sink
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. tear — to rip

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