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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: cold · bowl · content · degree · cap · mate · cue · season

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. season — in sport
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. content — the amount
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cue — a signal
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cue — a hint
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. degree — temperature
  14. mate — to breed
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. mate — a partner
  17. content — happy
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cold — an illness
  20. season — of the year
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. cue — for pool
  24. content — videos and posts

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