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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: key · cold · degree · cap · spell · mouse · band · ground

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spell — magic
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. cap — a hat
  7. band — a music group
  8. degree — from a university
  9. band — a ring
  10. key — in music
  11. cap — of ice
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ground — a position
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. key — the most important part
  20. key — for a lock
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. spell — letters
  23. degree — an amount
  24. ground — the earth

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