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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: cell · sharp · season · degree · stem · cold · capital · present

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cold — an illness
  4. present — a gift
  5. capital — a city
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — of the year
  11. cold — not warm
  12. present — the time now
  13. season — in sport
  14. sharp — clever
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. cell — in biology
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cell — a phone
  20. present — there
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stem — to come from

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