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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. season — in sport
  3. rock — a stone
  4. row — to paddle
  5. degree — from a university
  6. march — the month
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — to breed
  10. row — a line
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. mate — a friend
  14. degree — temperature
  15. swing — music
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. season — of the year
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — to play on
  21. cell — a phone
  22. rock — music
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — in biology

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