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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. capital — a city
  5. bulb — for light
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. face — to point toward
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. swing — music
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rush — hurry
  15. content — happy
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bulb — for light
  20. content — the amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. face — part of the head
  23. swing — to play on
  24. face — to confront

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