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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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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: ruler · pass · bore · degree · cold · march · land · dip

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. march — the month
  6. land — a country
  7. degree — from a university
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. degree — temperature
  15. land — to come down
  16. march — music
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. land — ground
  19. bore — to tire
  20. degree — an amount
  21. dip — to sink
  22. pass — a permit
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. march — the month

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