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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. capital — a city
  3. degree — from a university
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. bound — obliged
  7. object — an aim
  8. degree — an amount
  9. object — a thing
  10. object — to protest
  11. bound — certain
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. degree — temperature
  14. snap — to click
  15. pitch — completely
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bound — tied together
  18. capital — money

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