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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · pitcher · chip · band · field · rest · cap · season

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. season — of the year
  3. field — a subject
  4. degree — an amount
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. cap — of ice
  7. season — in sport
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a ring
  10. rest — a break
  11. degree — from a university
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. band — a music group
  14. chip — for betting
  15. chip — to eat
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cap — a hat
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. field — for sport
  21. rest — what's left
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. rest — what's left
  24. field — farmland

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