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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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Word bank
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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. degree — temperature
  3. key — the most important part
  4. stem — to come from
  5. content — the amount
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. game — wild animals
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. key — in music
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. game — a match
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. degree — from a university
  17. saw — the tool
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. capital — a city
  20. content — happy
  21. saw — the tool
  22. key — for a lock
  23. degree — an amount
  24. content — videos and posts

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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