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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. stand — to bear
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. branch — a division
  7. capital — a city
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bat — the animal
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — money
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. plane — a tool
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. mine — for digging

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