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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. degree — from a university
  3. race — a contest
  4. mine — for digging
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. capital — a city
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. degree — an amount
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. race — humankind
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. object — an aim
  16. object — a thing
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. object — to protest
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. race — the arms race
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. capital — money
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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