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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mug — a cup
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. spell — a short time
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wind — moving air
  9. capital — a city
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. mug — a face
  12. bark — to shout
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. capital — money
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. content — the amount
  18. spell — letters
  19. degree — an amount
  20. spell — magic
  21. content — happy
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. mug — to rob

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