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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. ball — a dance
  3. chest — a box
  4. firm — a company
  5. degree — an amount
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a city
  10. tube — a container
  11. firm — decided
  12. chest — of your body
  13. firm — steady
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. ball — a great time
  19. tube — the underground
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. chest — of your body
  24. racket — a loud noise

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