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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rush — hurry
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. staff — employees
  8. firm — a company
  9. kid — to tease
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. prune — to trim
  14. field — for sport
  15. prune — to trim
  16. field — a subject
  17. staff — employees
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. staff — a stick
  21. firm — steady
  22. field — farmland
  23. firm — decided
  24. dip — to sink

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