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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bound — tied together
  3. land — a country
  4. bound — obliged
  5. ball — a great time
  6. degree — from a university
  7. toast — bread
  8. degree — temperature
  9. land — ground
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. bound — certain
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ball — a dance
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. present — the time now
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. present — there
  22. cold — not warm
  23. present — a gift
  24. degree — an amount

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