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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. season — of the year
  3. mate — a partner
  4. band — a ring
  5. degree — an amount
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. mark — a grade
  8. degree — temperature
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. net — in sport
  13. mate — a friend
  14. degree — from a university
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. net — after costs
  17. mark — a trace
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. band — a music group
  20. capital — a city
  21. plane — a tool
  22. net — for catching
  23. mate — to breed
  24. season — in sport

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