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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. cold — not warm
  3. firm — a company
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. spring — the season
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. spring — a coil
  8. degree — an amount
  9. dip — to sink
  10. firm — decided
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. cold — an illness
  14. firm — steady
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. degree — from a university
  17. ground — a position
  18. tube — the underground
  19. ground — the earth
  20. spring — of water
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. tube — a container
  23. ground — crushed
  24. degree — temperature

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