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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. band — a ring
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. pass — a permit
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. degree — from a university
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. capital — a city
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. fall — to drop
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. fall — the season
  18. perch — the fish
  19. degree — temperature
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. capital — money
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. leaves — of a tree

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