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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 120 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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. dip — to sink
  4. mate — a partner
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. degree — an amount
  8. deal — to handle
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. mate — a friend
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. spring — the season
  18. mate — to breed
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. spring — a coil
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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