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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. degree — an amount
  4. shower — rain
  5. degree — temperature
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. season — in sport
  8. lean — thin
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. season — of the year
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. lean — to bend
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. band — a ring
  16. degree — from a university
  17. spring — of water
  18. march — music
  19. sharp — clever
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. band — a music group
  24. season — to add flavour

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