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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. degree — an amount
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. press — to push
  5. field — for sport
  6. race — humankind
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. press — a publisher
  11. press — newspapers
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cap — a lid
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cap — of ice
  19. field — a subject
  20. cold — an illness
  21. race — a contest
  22. field — farmland
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. branch — a division

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