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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. degree — an amount
  5. season — of the year
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — temperature
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chip — for betting
  12. chip — to eat
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. rush — hurry
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. chair — a leader
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chair — a professorship

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