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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cap — a lid
  3. land — ground
  4. pop — to visit
  5. degree — an amount
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pop — soda
  10. rock — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pop — music
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. craft — a skill
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — of ice
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. craft — boats
  20. rock — a stone
  21. degree — from a university
  22. sharp — clever
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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