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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 like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. row — a line
  4. field — a subject
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. can — a tin
  11. degree — an amount
  12. field — farmland
  13. dip — to sink
  14. degree — temperature
  15. row — to paddle
  16. can — to be able to
  17. suit — clothes
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. suit — in cards
  20. cold — an illness
  21. field — for sport
  22. can — a tin
  23. suit — to fit
  24. dip — a sauce

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