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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: pit · kid · mine · degree · season · present · march · current

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. current — electric
  4. kid — child
  5. march — the month
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. degree — from a university
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. present — there
  12. mine — for digging
  13. current — of water
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. current — happening now
  16. kid — to tease
  17. present — a gift
  18. season — of the year
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pit — a hole
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. present — the time now
  24. pit — in a race

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