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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bound — tied together
  3. march — music
  4. face — to point toward
  5. march — the month
  6. degree — from a university
  7. wound — an injury
  8. degree — temperature
  9. season — in sport
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. season — of the year
  12. stock — goods
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bound — certain
  15. march — the month
  16. face — part of the head
  17. bound — obliged
  18. stock — shares
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cap — a lid
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. face — to confront
  24. cap — of ice

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