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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. degree — from a university
  4. last — finally
  5. court — of law
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. prune — to trim
  9. race — humankind
  10. season — in sport
  11. court — for sport
  12. mug — a face
  13. pass — a permit
  14. last — final
  15. mug — a cup
  16. court — of a king
  17. last — to go on
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. degree — an amount
  20. prune — to trim
  21. race — the arms race
  22. mug — to rob
  23. race — a contest
  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