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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. shower — to wash
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. swing — to play on
  8. scale — in music
  9. dip — to sink
  10. shower — rain
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. degree — from a university
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. sharp — clever
  15. kick — in football
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. swing — in golf
  19. deal — to handle
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. swing — music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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