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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: bay · bass · wound · pit · cap · degree · march · hand

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. cap — a lid
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. hand — in cards
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. march — music
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. march — the month
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. cap — of ice
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pit — in a race
  15. hand — help
  16. bass — low music
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — the fish
  22. pit — a hole
  23. cap — a hat
  24. march — the month

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