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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. degree — temperature
  4. roll — a list
  5. capital — a city
  6. band — a ring
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. pop — soda
  9. capital — money
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. degree — from a university
  12. pop — music
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. degree — an amount
  19. roll — a cake
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. pop — to visit
  23. band — a music group
  24. bark — to shout

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