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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. capital — money
  6. fall — to drop
  7. kid — child
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bear — the animal
  10. root — the cause
  11. capital — a city
  12. root — of a word
  13. court — of a king
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. fall — the season
  18. degree — from a university
  19. court — for sport
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. court — of law
  22. fall — to drop
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. root — of a plant

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