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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: degree · dip · wound · chair · cold · key · file · pass

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. wound — an injury
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. key — in music
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pass — a permit
  10. chair — a leader
  11. file — a tool
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. cold — an illness
  14. degree — an amount
  15. file — a document
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a line of people
  21. key — for a lock
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. pass — to spend time

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