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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. prune — to trim
  4. suit — in cards
  5. degree — temperature
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. land — to come down
  8. wake — a trail
  9. capital — money
  10. suit — clothes
  11. land — a country
  12. degree — from a university
  13. land — ground
  14. capital — a city
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — to shout
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. suit — to fit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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