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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. degree — an amount
  3. capital — a city
  4. degree — temperature
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. press — to push
  10. fall — the season
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. fall — to drop
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. craft — a skill
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. fall — to drop
  17. press — newspapers
  18. deal — to handle
  19. degree — from a university
  20. craft — boats
  21. capital — money
  22. press — a publisher
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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