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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. root — of a word
  8. capital — a city
  9. root — the cause
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. game — a match
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. degree — an amount
  15. plane — a tool
  16. root — of a plant
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. kid — to tease
  19. stand — to bear
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. degree — temperature
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. kid — child
  24. capital — money

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