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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 120 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. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fine — all right
  8. wound — an injury
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bulb — for light
  15. degree — temperature
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wound — an injury
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. capital — a city
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — to sit on

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