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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 124 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: season · mug · mine · fall · degree · trunk · last · cabinet

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. last — finally
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — of the year
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. fall — to drop
  10. season — in sport
  11. mug — to rob
  12. last — final
  13. mine — for digging
  14. degree — an amount
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mug — a face
  20. fall — the season
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. degree — temperature
  23. last — to go on
  24. mine — an explosive

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