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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: kid · degree · cold · face · dip · bay · pitcher · hand

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cold — an illness
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. face — to confront
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — from a university
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. degree — an amount
  11. hand — help
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. kid — child
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. dip — to sink
  21. kid — to tease
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. cold — the Cold War

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