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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: degree · march · drill · season · scale · mug · suit · chest

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  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. suit — to fit
  2. mug — to rob
  3. degree — an amount
  4. march — the month
  5. mug — a cup
  6. suit — in cards
  7. drill — a practice
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mug — a face
  10. drill — army training
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. drill — the tool
  13. season — of the year
  14. chest — a box
  15. scale — size or range
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. chest — of your body
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chest — of your body
  21. suit — clothes
  22. season — in sport
  23. scale — in music
  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