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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 116 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: kick · bowl · cap · scale · wake · degree · last · march

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. march — music
  7. cap — a lid
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. cap — of ice
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wake — a trail
  12. last — to go on
  13. march — the month
  14. scale — size or range
  15. kick — in football
  16. march — the month
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. last — final
  19. scale — in music
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. last — finally
  23. cap — a hat
  24. scale — for weighing

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