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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. capital — a big letter
  3. degree — temperature
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. mate — to breed
  6. capital — a city
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. mate — a partner
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. kick — in football
  12. squash — to crush
  13. key — in music
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. degree — from a university
  16. squash — the sport
  17. shower — rain
  18. key — the most important part
  19. mate — a friend
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. key — for a lock
  22. court — of law
  23. shower — to wash
  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