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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: hide · cap · degree · wound · row · field · pass · wave

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. pass — a permit
  4. field — a subject
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. degree — from a university
  8. row — a line
  9. wound — an injury
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cap — a hat
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cap — of ice
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. row — to paddle

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