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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wound — an injury
  5. rock — music
  6. land — ground
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — magic
  9. degree — an amount
  10. staff — employees
  11. staff — a stick
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. rock — a stone
  14. court — for sport
  15. land — to come down
  16. cap — a hat
  17. land — a country
  18. court — of law
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. court — of a king
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cap — a lid
  24. staff — employees

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