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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · land · fan · tear · degree · spring · march · pitch

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. cap — a lid
  5. spring — the season
  6. tear — to rip
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. cap — a hat
  12. tear — from crying
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cap — of ice
  15. spring — of water
  16. land — a country
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. march — music
  19. land — to come down
  20. tear — from crying
  21. degree — temperature
  22. land — ground
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. degree — from a university

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