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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. degree — from a university
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. game — a match
  5. track — a song
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. track — to keep track
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. face — to point toward
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. capital — money
  15. ball — a dance
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. track — a path
  19. face — to confront
  20. capital — a city
  21. game — wild animals
  22. ball — a great time
  23. face — part of the head
  24. prune — the fruit

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