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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. season — in sport
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. cold — an illness
  5. face — to point toward
  6. pound — a weight
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. face — to confront
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bound — certain
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bound — tied together
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. degree — from a university
  16. season — of the year
  17. bound — obliged
  18. face — part of the head
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. squash — the sport
  24. degree — temperature

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