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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: spring · pass · snap · march · field · stick · wound · degree

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. degree — an amount
  6. march — the month
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. spring — a coil
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. march — music
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. pass — a permit
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. spring — the season
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. march — the month
  22. field — farmland
  23. spring — of water
  24. snap — to click

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