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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: degree · saw · cap · season · nail · cold · march · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cap — of ice
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. march — music
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. cold — an illness
  8. degree — an amount
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. cap — a hat
  11. season — of the year
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — not warm
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. march — the month
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cap — a lid
  23. season — in sport
  24. season — to add flavour

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