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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — in sport
  3. can — to be able to
  4. can — a tin
  5. bass — low music
  6. file — a document
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bass — the fish
  11. degree — from a university
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. season — of the year
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a tool
  20. mine — for digging
  21. degree — an amount
  22. can — a tin
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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