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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bat — the animal
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. dip — to sink
  13. capital — money
  14. can — a tin
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — not warm
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. can — to be able to
  21. degree — temperature
  22. can — a tin
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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