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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 124 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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cap — of ice
  4. rest — what's left
  5. land — to come down
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. field — for sport
  8. capital — money
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. club — for golf
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. cap — a lid
  14. land — ground
  15. degree — temperature
  16. club — for dancing
  17. land — a country
  18. rest — a break
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cap — a hat
  21. capital — a city
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — a weight

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