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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pop — to visit
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. drill — the tool
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. dip — to sink
  8. hand — in cards
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. can — a tin
  12. capital — money
  13. drill — army training
  14. degree — from a university
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. pop — music
  18. can — a tin
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. capital — a city
  21. can — to be able to
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. drill — a practice
  24. dip — to dunk

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