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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 116 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: wind · degree · can · present · bay · march · nail · cold

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. present — there
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. present — the time now
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. degree — from a university
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. can — to be able to
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wind — moving air
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. present — a gift
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. degree — an amount
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. march — music
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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