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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 120 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: season · swing · lean · degree · land · lie · pound · cold

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. season — of the year
  3. lean — thin
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. lie — to recline
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. pound — a weight
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. swing — music
  14. land — to come down
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. lean — to bend
  18. swing — in golf
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. degree — an amount
  21. swing — to play on
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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