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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. drill — army training
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. degree — an amount
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stem — to come from
  13. drill — a practice
  14. sharp — clever
  15. degree — from a university
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. capital — a city
  18. saw — the tool
  19. deal — to handle
  20. capital — money
  21. bat — the animal
  22. saw — the tool
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. deal — a big deal

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