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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: temple · cap · degree · swing · cell · tear · date · fan

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. degree — an amount
  5. tear — from crying
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. swing — to play on
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cap — a hat
  10. degree — from a university
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. cap — a lid
  14. tear — to rip
  15. swing — in golf
  16. date — the fruit
  17. cell — a phone
  18. swing — music
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cap — of ice
  24. temple — side of the head

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