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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. staff — a stick
  4. march — the month
  5. staff — employees
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. sharp — clever
  8. kick — in football
  9. degree — from a university
  10. staff — employees
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. march — the month
  13. degree — temperature
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — money
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. sharp — with an edge

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