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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: ground · wound · season · cap · straw · bat · degree · pop

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. ground — crushed
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cap — a hat
  6. degree — temperature
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — the earth
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cap — a lid
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pop — soda
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pop — music
  24. season — in sport

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