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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fine — all right
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. fall — to drop
  6. charge — electricity
  7. fine — high quality
  8. game — a match
  9. charge — a price
  10. suit — in cards
  11. suit — clothes
  12. degree — from a university
  13. capital — money
  14. degree — an amount
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. suit — to fit
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. charge — in control
  23. game — wild animals
  24. degree — temperature

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