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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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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 · cap · cold · stem · fall · degree · march · bay

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. fall — to drop
  4. degree — an amount
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cold — an illness
  9. degree — temperature
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. fall — to drop
  12. march — the month
  13. cap — a lid
  14. stem — to come from
  15. degree — from a university
  16. march — the month
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cap — a hat
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. march — music
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fall — the season
  24. wind — moving air

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