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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: spring · bass · wake · cold · degree · sharp · pass · pitcher

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — the season
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pass — a permit
  11. wake — a trail
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bass — low music
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. spring — of water
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bass — the fish
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cold — not warm

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