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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. degree — an amount
  5. rush — hurry
  6. game — a match
  7. tube — the underground
  8. suit — to fit
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. suit — clothes
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. degree — from a university
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. cold — not warm
  22. tube — a container
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. suit — in cards

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