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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. spring — the season
  4. march — music
  5. track — to keep track
  6. spring — a coil
  7. march — the month
  8. lean — thin
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. land — a country
  13. bat — the animal
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. land — ground
  16. spring — of water
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. land — to come down
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. track — a path
  21. track — a song
  22. lean — to bend
  23. march — the month
  24. degree — from a university

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