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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. cold — an illness
  5. field — a subject
  6. wake — a trail
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — not warm
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. field — for sport
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — to sink
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. field — farmland

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