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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cold — an illness
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. track — a song
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bore — to drill
  15. bore — to tire
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. track — a path
  20. dip — to sink
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — not warm
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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