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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. degree — temperature
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a ring
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. stock — goods
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. capital — money
  15. stock — shares
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. clip — a video
  20. capital — a city
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. degree — from a university
  23. clip — for paper
  24. degree — an amount

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