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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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468
Word bank
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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a city
  4. fork — in a road
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. press — newspapers
  9. degree — temperature
  10. perch — the fish
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. degree — from a university
  14. dip — to sink
  15. capital — money
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cold — an illness
  18. degree — an amount
  19. press — a publisher
  20. press — to push
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fork — a garden tool

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