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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. scale — in music
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. wind — moving air
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — a group
  9. cap — a hat
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cap — of ice
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — an amount
  19. scale — size or range
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. cap — a lid
  23. club — for dancing
  24. wind — moving air

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