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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. scale — in music
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. degree — an amount
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rash — hasty
  7. club — for golf
  8. capital — a city
  9. roll — a cake
  10. capital — money
  11. degree — from a university
  12. march — the month
  13. bound — certain
  14. march — the month
  15. bound — tied together
  16. march — music
  17. roll — a list
  18. club — for dancing
  19. degree — temperature
  20. club — a group
  21. bound — obliged
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. scale — size or range

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