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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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Word bank
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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: cold · degree · spell · rush · ground · jam · wound · scale

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. degree — an amount
  4. spell — magic
  5. cold — an illness
  6. scale — size or range
  7. cold — not warm
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. ground — crushed
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wound — an injury
  13. scale — in music
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spell — letters
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. rush — hurry
  20. spell — a short time
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — temperature
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. ground — the earth

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