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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. track — a song
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. degree — temperature
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. land — a country
  9. spring — the season
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. cue — a hint
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cue — for pool
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cue — a signal
  18. land — ground
  19. fork — in a road
  20. land — to come down
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. spring — of water
  23. degree — an amount
  24. track — a path

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