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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. toast — bread
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pop — to visit
  5. degree — from a university
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. pop — soda
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. tube — a container
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tube — the underground
  14. hand — in cards
  15. stem — to come from
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. pop — music
  23. hand — help
  24. toast — the most admired

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