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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · dip · nail · coach · last · tear · degree · current

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. current — happening now
  3. dip — to sink
  4. last — to go on
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. last — final
  8. cold — an illness
  9. degree — an amount
  10. current — electric
  11. cold — not warm
  12. degree — from a university
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. current — of water
  19. tear — to rip
  20. degree — temperature
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. last — finally
  24. dip — a sauce

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