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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: scale · spell · ground · cold · squash · degree · foot · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spell — letters
  4. ground — crushed
  5. scale — in music
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. spell — a short time
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. scale — size or range
  12. degree — temperature
  13. foot — a measure
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cold — an illness
  20. date — the fruit
  21. spell — magic
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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