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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. cap — a lid
  3. roll — a list
  4. spring — the season
  5. cap — of ice
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. spring — of water
  8. cap — a hat
  9. degree — an amount
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. chip — for betting
  13. pound — a weight
  14. spring — a coil
  15. roll — a cake
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. degree — temperature
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. hand — in cards
  20. chip — to eat
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. degree — from a university
  23. season — of the year
  24. season — in sport

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