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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 university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. capital — a city
  3. rest — what's left
  4. key — in music
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. cap — of ice
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. game — wild animals
  10. chair — a leader
  11. capital — money
  12. pass — a permit
  13. rest — a break
  14. game — a match
  15. rest — what's left
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cap — a hat
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. key — for a lock
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. key — the most important part
  24. cap — a lid

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