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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. content — the amount
  3. march — the month
  4. degree — an amount
  5. capital — a city
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — a match
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. march — music
  10. degree — from a university
  11. track — a path
  12. capital — money
  13. track — to keep track
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. track — a song
  16. mine — for digging
  17. content — happy
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. game — wild animals
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. march — the month
  24. mine — an explosive

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