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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 120 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. stem — to come from
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. clip — a video
  10. capital — money
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. clip — to cut
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. clip — for paper
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. degree — an amount
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. capital — a city

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