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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wind — moving air
  4. season — of the year
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bass — the fish
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. cold — an illness
  10. swing — in golf
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — the earth
  13. swing — to play on
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wind — moving air
  20. season — in sport
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. degree — an amount
  23. swing — music
  24. season — to add flavour

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