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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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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: stand · march · spring · field · cap · degree · ruler · rush

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. march — the month
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. cap — of ice
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. march — music
  10. stand — to bear
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. field — a subject
  15. cap — a lid
  16. rush — hurry
  17. degree — an amount
  18. march — the month
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cap — a hat
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. degree — temperature
  24. ruler — for measuring

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