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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. staff — employees
  3. fall — the season
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. field — a subject
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. staff — employees
  10. mark — a trace
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fall — to drop
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. fall — to drop
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mark — a grade
  20. staff — a stick
  21. field — farmland
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. field — for sport

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