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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bulb — for light
  3. spell — magic
  4. capital — a city
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. spell — letters
  8. rash — a series
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. rash — hasty
  15. capital — money
  16. spell — a short time
  17. net — in sport
  18. bark — to shout
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. bulb — for light
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — for catching
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. racket — for tennis

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