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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. court — of law
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. season — of the year
  9. season — in sport
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. court — of a king
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. court — for sport
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. swing — in golf
  20. degree — from a university
  21. branch — a division
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fork — in a road

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