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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. last — to go on
  3. row — to paddle
  4. season — of the year
  5. last — final
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cap — a hat
  8. season — in sport
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cap — a lid
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. row — a line
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. stem — to come from
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. wound — an injury
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cap — of ice
  21. degree — temperature
  22. last — finally
  23. wound — an injury
  24. temple — a place of worship

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