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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. dip — to sink
  4. cue — a signal
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. content — happy
  7. band — a ring
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mine — for digging
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. band — a music group
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. snap — to click
  16. content — the amount
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cue — a hint
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. degree — an amount
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. cue — for pool

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