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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 116 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: hand · net · cap · bat · wound · degree · rock · last

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. last — final
  3. net — in sport
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. wound — an injury
  7. degree — an amount
  8. hand — in cards
  9. net — after costs
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. bat — the animal
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wound — an injury
  14. last — to go on
  15. cap — a lid
  16. degree — from a university
  17. rock — a stone
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. last — finally
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rock — music
  23. cap — of ice
  24. net — for catching

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