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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: trunk · cap · bay · degree · cold · bore · swing · march

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. march — music
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. swing — music
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. bore — to drill
  9. swing — to play on
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cap — a hat
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. cap — a lid
  17. swing — in golf
  18. march — the month
  19. bore — to tire
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. cold — not warm
  22. degree — from a university
  23. march — the month
  24. cap — of ice

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