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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. key — for a lock
  3. bound — obliged
  4. season — of the year
  5. bound — certain
  6. key — the most important part
  7. capital — money
  8. key — in music
  9. stock — goods
  10. degree — an amount
  11. capital — a city
  12. bound — tied together
  13. degree — temperature
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — shares
  16. season — in sport
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. season — to add flavour

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