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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. degree — temperature
  3. field — farmland
  4. cap — of ice
  5. rest — what's left
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. key — in music
  8. cap — a lid
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — wild animals
  11. key — the most important part
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. cap — a hat
  15. field — a subject
  16. key — for a lock
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. degree — from a university
  19. rest — a break
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. spring — of water
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rest — what's left
  24. field — for sport

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