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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 120 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: kid · dip · cap · firm · bat · ball · degree · cell

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. firm — a company
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. degree — from a university
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. kid — child
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bat — the animal
  9. firm — decided
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cell — a phone
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. dip — to sink
  21. ball — a great time
  22. cap — of ice
  23. firm — steady
  24. degree — an amount

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