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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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kick · march · bat · bowl · degree · cold

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. march — the month
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. degree — an amount
  6. march — the month
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. march — music
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cold — an illness

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