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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. degree — temperature
  2. current — happening now
  3. court — of law
  4. bulb — for light
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. current — of water
  8. bark — to shout
  9. saw — the tool
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bulb — for light
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. degree — from a university
  14. mark — a grade
  15. court — of a king
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. current — electric
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. mark — a trace
  20. court — for sport
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. cold — an illness
  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