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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 120 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. season — of the year
  3. last — final
  4. present — there
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. present — a gift
  7. degree — an amount
  8. wake — a trail
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pass — a permit
  11. cell — a phone
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. present — the time now
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cell — in biology
  20. degree — from a university
  21. season — in sport
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. squash — the sport
  24. squash — the vegetable

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