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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: bowl · bear · degree · firm · land · ground · cold · mug

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mug — to rob
  4. land — ground
  5. cold — not warm
  6. firm — decided
  7. firm — steady
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. ground — the earth
  11. land — to come down
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. mug — a cup
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. mug — a face
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. degree — an amount
  22. firm — a company
  23. ground — a position
  24. land — a country

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