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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: hand · fall · deal · bat · track · degree · cap · scale

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a hat
  3. hand — in cards
  4. fall — the season
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. hand — help
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fall — to drop
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. cap — a lid
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. track — to keep track
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. deal — to handle
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — in music

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