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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. key — for a lock
  4. degree — temperature
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. foot — a measure
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. key — the most important part
  15. key — in music
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. degree — an amount
  21. capital — money
  22. content — happy
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. content — the 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