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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. degree — from a university
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — to handle
  9. wind — moving air
  10. last — to go on
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wind — moving air
  13. capital — a city
  14. last — finally
  15. capital — money
  16. bark — to shout
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. degree — temperature
  23. staff — a stick
  24. wind — to turn a key

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