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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: degree · season · cold · trunk · swing · ball · mug · face

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cold — not warm
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. swing — music
  5. season — in sport
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mug — to rob
  10. mug — a cup
  11. face — to point toward
  12. swing — to play on
  13. season — of the year
  14. ball — a great time
  15. cold — an illness
  16. swing — in golf
  17. mug — a face
  18. ball — a dance
  19. degree — from a university
  20. face — part of the head
  21. degree — an amount
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. degree — temperature
  24. face — to confront

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