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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. suit — to fit
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. land — a country
  5. land — ground
  6. craft — a skill
  7. cap — a lid
  8. craft — boats
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. suit — in cards
  11. scale — size or range
  12. suit — clothes
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — in music
  15. race — humankind
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — of ice
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. race — a contest
  21. land — to come down
  22. season — in sport
  23. race — the arms race
  24. degree — temperature

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