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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pass — a permit
  4. degree — from a university
  5. capital — a city
  6. current — of water
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. shower — to wash
  9. ground — crushed
  10. current — happening now
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. ground — the earth
  14. degree — an amount
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. current — electric
  17. capital — money
  18. dip — to sink
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ground — a position
  23. shower — rain
  24. pass — to succeed

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