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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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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: chest · cold · degree · cue · straw · wave · scale · dip

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. cue — for pool
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. scale — size or range
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cue — a signal
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cue — a hint
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. dip — to sink
  18. chest — of your body
  19. degree — an amount
  20. chest — a box
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. straw — dry grass

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