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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. bank — for money
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bank — for money
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. sharp — clever
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. capital — a city
  14. net — for catching
  15. degree — from a university
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. net — after costs
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. plane — a tool
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bank — of a river
  24. net — in sport

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