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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'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. tube — the underground
  3. net — in sport
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. tube — a container
  6. race — humankind
  7. degree — an amount
  8. net — after costs
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. capital — money
  11. net — for catching
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. race — the arms race
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. race — a contest
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. degree — from a university
  20. snap — to click
  21. degree — temperature
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. dip — to sink

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