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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. capital — a city
  5. bulb — for light
  6. degree — temperature
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. present — a gift
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pop — soda
  12. capital — money
  13. bulb — for light
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. game — a match
  16. present — the time now
  17. pop — to visit
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. pop — music
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. toast — bread
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. game — wild animals
  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