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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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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: snap · object · cap · bowl · pass · cold · degree · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. cold — not warm
  4. degree — an amount
  5. pass — a permit
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to click
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. wound — an injury
  11. object — an aim
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cap — a lid
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. object — a thing
  23. object — to protest
  24. cap — a hat

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