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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. lean — thin
  5. spell — letters
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. spell — a short time
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. track — a path
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. ball — a dance
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — the animal
  16. spell — magic
  17. degree — temperature
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. ball — a great time
  20. track — to keep track
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. track — a song
  24. lean — to bend

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