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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: season · perch · degree · wound · cap · cold · arm · pass

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  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. arm — a part of something
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. degree — an amount
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. pass — a permit
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. wound — an injury
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. season — of the year
  18. cap — a hat
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — of ice
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — to add flavour
  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