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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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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: net · kick · pop · cold · dip · cabinet · bat · degree

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. degree — from a university
  5. dip — to sink
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kick — in football
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. pop — to visit
  15. pop — music
  16. degree — an amount
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — after costs
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. net — in sport
  22. pop — soda
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cold — not warm

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