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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. march — the month
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. tube — a container
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. cold — not warm
  18. march — music
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. tube — the underground
  23. degree — an amount
  24. march — the month

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