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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 116 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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. cap — a hat
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — a group
  6. degree — temperature
  7. cap — a lid
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. degree — an amount
  10. ground — a position
  11. club — for dancing
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ground — the earth
  15. rest — a break
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. shower — rain
  18. rest — what's left
  19. ground — crushed
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. cold — not warm
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cold — an illness

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