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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: object · cold · season · calf · mark · chair · band · degree

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. object — a thing
  4. chair — a leader
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. cold — an illness
  10. object — an aim
  11. band — a music group
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — in sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. mark — a trace
  20. object — to protest
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. mark — a grade
  23. degree — temperature
  24. chair — a professorship

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