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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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Word bank
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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. fine — all right
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. root — of a word
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. rash — hasty
  11. degree — temperature
  12. root — of a plant
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — high quality
  15. degree — an amount
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — of the year
  18. march — the month
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. degree — from a university
  21. rash — a series
  22. march — music
  23. root — the cause
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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