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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. snap — to click
  3. pound — a weight
  4. chest — of your body
  5. degree — an amount
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. chip — to eat
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — from a university
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. shower — rain
  15. lean — to bend
  16. chest — a box
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. lean — thin
  19. dip — to sink
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. chip — for betting
  24. dip — a sauce

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