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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  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. degree — temperature
  2. last — to go on
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. march — music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fine — high quality
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. chest — a box
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — the animal
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. march — the month
  15. last — final
  16. hand — in cards
  17. season — in sport
  18. last — finally
  19. march — the month
  20. fine — all right
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. hand — help
  23. season — of the year
  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