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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. degree — from a university
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. spell — a short time
  5. pop — soda
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. degree — an amount
  8. spell — magic
  9. degree — temperature
  10. ground — the earth
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. pop — music
  14. date — the fruit
  15. ground — a position
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pop — to visit
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. wound — an injury
  21. dip — to sink
  22. toast — bread
  23. spell — letters
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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