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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. capital — money
  3. rush — hurry
  4. face — to confront
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. face — to point toward
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. degree — from a university
  11. shower — to wash
  12. capital — a city
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. face — part of the head
  16. tube — a container
  17. mark — a trace
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to click
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. tube — the underground
  22. degree — temperature
  23. mark — a grade
  24. mark — to pay attention

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