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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. key — the most important part
  5. degree — temperature
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — from a university
  10. key — in music
  11. swing — music
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. swing — in golf
  16. key — for a lock
  17. swing — to play on
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. ball — a dance
  21. ball — a great time
  22. cold — an illness
  23. degree — an amount
  24. calf — a young animal

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