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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — humankind
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. game — a match
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — shares
  9. root — the cause
  10. game — wild animals
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. capital — a city
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chip — for betting
  17. root — of a plant
  18. chip — to eat
  19. root — of a word
  20. race — a contest
  21. capital — money
  22. race — the arms race
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stock — goods

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