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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: field · capital · fall · squash · shower · degree · mug · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. degree — from a university
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mug — a face
  6. fall — to drop
  7. degree — an amount
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mug — to rob
  10. fall — to drop
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. capital — money
  14. squash — the sport
  15. capital — a city
  16. fall — the season
  17. mug — a cup
  18. shower — rain
  19. cold — not warm
  20. field — for sport
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. degree — temperature
  24. squash — to crush

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