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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. capital — a city
  3. degree — from a university
  4. net — in sport
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. degree — temperature
  8. capital — money
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. net — after costs
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. net — for catching
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. lean — thin
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. prune — to trim
  23. rest — what's left
  24. hand — part of the body

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