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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cap — a hat
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cap — of ice
  9. season — in sport
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. capital — a city
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. fine — all right
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wake — a trail
  19. bulb — for light
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. fine — high quality
  22. capital — money
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. cap — a lid

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