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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. degree — temperature
  3. club — for golf
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. degree — an amount
  6. field — for sport
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. club — a group
  15. degree — from a university
  16. field — farmland
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — a coil
  20. field — a subject
  21. club — for dancing
  22. spring — the season
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — to come from

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