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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. wound — an injury
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. season — in sport
  6. roll — a cake
  7. wound — an injury
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. roll — a list
  15. branch — a division
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. degree — an amount
  19. game — wild animals
  20. dip — to sink
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. game — a match
  24. roll — on a roll

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