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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. can — to be able to
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. degree — temperature
  8. can — a tin
  9. bound — certain
  10. fall — the season
  11. bound — tied together
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. spell — magic
  15. can — a tin
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mark — a grade
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. spell — letters
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bound — obliged
  23. capital — money
  24. spell — a short time

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