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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bear — the animal
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. race — humankind
  9. lean — thin
  10. capital — a city
  11. race — a contest
  12. clip — a video
  13. race — the arms race
  14. march — the month
  15. spell — magic
  16. clip — to cut
  17. march — the month
  18. lean — to bend
  19. spell — letters
  20. bear — the animal
  21. capital — money
  22. degree — an amount
  23. clip — for paper
  24. march — music

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