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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. ground — the earth
  3. game — wild animals
  4. sharp — clever
  5. capital — money
  6. degree — an amount
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mark — a trace
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. degree — temperature
  11. game — a match
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. mark — a grade
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. capital — a city
  17. bear — the animal
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bat — the animal
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bear — the animal

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