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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 124 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wax — to grow
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pitch — completely
  10. ball — a great time
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. degree — temperature
  14. capital — money
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. capital — a city
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. stem — to come from
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. foot — a measure

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