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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. degree — an amount
  3. capital — a city
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. present — the time now
  6. band — a music group
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. band — a ring
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. prune — to trim
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. degree — from a university
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. present — a gift
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. prune — to trim
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mark — a trace
  22. capital — money
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. present — there

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