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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · cold · current · pit · tear · key · degree · pound

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. cold — not warm
  3. current — happening now
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. key — for a lock
  7. row — a line
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. key — in music
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — in a race
  13. key — the most important part
  14. degree — from a university
  15. current — of water
  16. pound — a weight
  17. tear — to rip
  18. row — to paddle
  19. current — electric
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cold — an illness
  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