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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. degree — from a university
  3. snap — to click
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. court — of law
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. capital — money
  11. bound — obliged
  12. degree — temperature
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. court — for sport
  15. capital — a city
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bound — tied together
  18. court — of a king
  19. bound — certain
  20. degree — an amount
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — after costs
  24. net — for catching

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