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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. degree — temperature
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. bore — to drill
  7. perch — the fish
  8. kid — to tease
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. kid — child
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. mine — for digging
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — music
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to tire
  19. dip — to sink
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. swing — in golf
  24. degree — from a university

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