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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. degree — from a university
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wind — moving air
  6. hand — in cards
  7. roll — a cake
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. object — a thing
  10. wind — moving air
  11. hand — help
  12. roll — a list
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. dip — to sink
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. object — an aim
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. cell — in biology
  24. object — to protest

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