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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 116 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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Word bank
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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: lie · degree · hide · pop · calf · snap · cold · object

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. degree — an amount
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. object — a thing
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. degree — temperature
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. pop — soda
  15. object — an aim
  16. pop — music
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pop — to visit
  23. object — to protest
  24. lie — to recline

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