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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: dip · wind · ball · bulb · prune · cold · degree · coach

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. dip — to sink
  3. ball — a great time
  4. wind — moving air
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a dance
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bulb — for light
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wind — moving air
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. degree — temperature
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  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