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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 120 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. capital — a city
  3. degree — temperature
  4. capital — money
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. chest — a box
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — obliged
  10. degree — from a university
  11. track — to keep track
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. track — a path
  14. cell — in biology
  15. chest — of your body
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a ring
  18. cell — a phone
  19. track — a song
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bound — tied together
  22. wake — a trail
  23. chest — of your body
  24. degree — an amount

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