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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. present — the time now
  3. rest — what's left
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — there
  6. tear — to rip
  7. drill — a practice
  8. root — the cause
  9. root — of a plant
  10. tear — from crying
  11. rest — a break
  12. band — a ring
  13. tear — from crying
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. drill — the tool
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. rest — what's left
  19. capital — money
  20. root — of a word
  21. degree — from a university
  22. capital — a city
  23. drill — army training
  24. degree — temperature

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