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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 124 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fall — to drop
  4. mark — a grade
  5. scale — in music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cold — an illness
  9. scale — size or range
  10. degree — an amount
  11. fall — the season
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mark — a trace
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. cell — a phone
  18. dip — to sink
  19. fine — high quality
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. fine — all right
  23. cell — in biology
  24. mark — to pay attention

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