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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: wind · mate · stand · lean · season · degree · hand · pitcher

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. hand — help
  8. season — of the year
  9. lean — thin
  10. season — in sport
  11. stand — to bear
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. lean — to bend
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — to breed
  21. wind — moving air
  22. degree — from a university
  23. mate — a partner
  24. hand — in cards

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