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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. mug — to rob
  3. mug — a cup
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. game — wild animals
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. degree — an amount
  12. sharp — clever
  13. game — a match
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. degree — from a university
  18. mug — a face
  19. dip — to sink
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. bat — the animal
  23. stem — to come from
  24. plane — a tool

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