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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
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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: object · date · dip · cold · degree · game · pass · row

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. object — to protest
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. dip — to sink
  5. pass — a permit
  6. date — the fruit
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cold — not warm
  14. object — a thing
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. game — wild animals
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — from a university
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. object — an aim
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. row — a line

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