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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: cell · degree · march · pop · tear · rash · bowl · jam

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. march — the month
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cell — in biology
  8. pop — music
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pop — to visit
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. cell — a phone
  13. march — music
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. pop — soda
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — a series
  22. degree — an amount
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. tear — from crying

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