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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 116 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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. mate — to breed
  4. drill — a practice
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. degree — temperature
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. tear — to rip
  9. capital — money
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. drill — army training
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bore — to drill
  15. capital — a city
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — a partner
  18. tear — from crying
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. bore — to tire
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. tear — from crying
  23. degree — from a university
  24. drill — the 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