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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. degree — an amount
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. tear — from crying
  7. perch — the fish
  8. wax — to grow
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. suit — to fit
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — from a university
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. capital — money
  18. suit — clothes
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. tear — to rip
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. suit — in cards

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