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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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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: game · degree · deal · stick · march · season · wind · cell

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. cell — in biology
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. season — in sport
  8. game — a match
  9. cell — a phone
  10. degree — temperature
  11. deal — to handle
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. game — wild animals
  18. march — the month
  19. wind — moving air
  20. degree — an amount
  21. season — of the year
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. season — to add flavour

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