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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fine — all right
  3. bat — the animal
  4. capital — money
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fine — high quality
  7. chip — for betting
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. tube — a container
  11. fall — the season
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. tube — the underground
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chip — to eat
  19. rest — a break
  20. rest — what's left
  21. degree — from a university
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bat — for baseball

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