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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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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: scale · bass · spell · present · pitcher · cold · bat · degree

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. degree — an amount
  4. present — the time now
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bass — the fish
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. spell — magic
  11. present — there
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. degree — from a university
  14. scale — in music
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spell — a short time
  17. scale — size or range
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bass — low music
  21. spell — letters
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. degree — temperature

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