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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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. bowl — a football final
  4. staff — employees
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. foot — a measure
  8. wound — an injury
  9. staff — employees
  10. degree — from a university
  11. band — a ring
  12. wind — moving air
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. wind — moving air
  17. staff — a stick
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a lid
  22. degree — temperature
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. band — a music group

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