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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cap — of ice
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. degree — temperature
  6. prune — to trim
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cap — a hat
  14. degree — an amount
  15. march — the month
  16. cap — a lid
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bear — the animal
  21. file — a document
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. file — a tool

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