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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. swing — in golf
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. court — of law
  5. band — a ring
  6. court — of a king
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. season — in sport
  13. season — of the year
  14. court — for sport
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. pit — in a race
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. capital — a city
  19. pit — a hole
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a music group
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. capital — money

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