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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: cap · mug · kid · row · wound · bear · land · degree

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bear — the animal
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. degree — from a university
  8. row — to paddle
  9. degree — an amount
  10. kid — to tease
  11. mug — a face
  12. cap — of ice
  13. row — a line
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mug — a cup
  17. degree — temperature
  18. land — a country
  19. land — to come down
  20. mug — to rob
  21. kid — child
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cap — a lid
  24. row — a quarrel

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