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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · kid · cold · key · nail · season · degree · rash

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rash — hasty
  5. degree — from a university
  6. season — in sport
  7. key — for a lock
  8. rash — a series
  9. season — of the year
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. kid — child
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. key — in music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. key — the most important part
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. degree — an amount
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cold — an illness
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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