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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  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. present — there
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — a gift
  4. chip — for betting
  5. face — to confront
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. face — part of the head
  9. cold — not warm
  10. degree — from a university
  11. field — for sport
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. chip — to eat
  15. rush — hurry
  16. dip — to sink
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. field — a subject
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. degree — temperature
  21. field — farmland
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. face — to point toward
  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