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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 124 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. degree — an amount
  3. field — for sport
  4. pop — music
  5. staff — employees
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cap — of ice
  9. field — farmland
  10. row — to paddle
  11. degree — from a university
  12. row — a line
  13. cap — a hat
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. cap — a lid
  17. pop — to visit
  18. staff — employees
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — money
  21. staff — a stick
  22. degree — temperature
  23. field — a subject
  24. kick — in football

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