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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cap — a hat
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cold — not warm
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. pound — a weight
  12. cap — a lid
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. march — music
  15. prune — to trim
  16. squash — the sport
  17. march — the month
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. march — the month
  23. squash — to crush
  24. prune — to trim

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