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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. kid — to tease
  3. degree — an amount
  4. current — of water
  5. cold — not warm
  6. degree — from a university
  7. stem — to come from
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bark — to shout
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. dip — to sink
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. current — happening now
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cold — an illness
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. kid — child

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