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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. staff — employees
  3. degree — temperature
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. clip — a video
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. clip — to cut
  8. capital — money
  9. prune — to trim
  10. degree — an amount
  11. spring — a coil
  12. staff — employees
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. pitch — completely
  15. spring — the season
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. spring — of water
  19. prune — to trim
  20. capital — a city
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. clip — for paper
  23. degree — from a university
  24. pitcher — a jug

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