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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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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: spring · march · staff · cap · degree · ground · cue · pop

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. degree — an amount
  3. march — the month
  4. degree — temperature
  5. ground — the earth
  6. spring — the season
  7. march — music
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cue — for pool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. staff — employees
  12. ground — a position
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cue — a signal
  15. pop — soda
  16. pop — to visit
  17. staff — employees
  18. cap — a lid
  19. march — the month
  20. staff — a stick
  21. ground — crushed
  22. pop — music
  23. cap — of ice
  24. spring — of water

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