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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: mine · arm · bear · ball · cold · degree · stand · pop

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. degree — temperature
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pop — music
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. degree — an amount
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ball — a great time
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bear — the animal
  15. stand — to bear
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. mine — for digging
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bear — the animal
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. ball — a dance
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. bear — to put up with

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