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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. saw — the tool
  3. mug — a cup
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. toast — bread
  6. ground — crushed
  7. capital — a city
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. ground — a position
  12. fork — in a road
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. degree — temperature
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. capital — money
  19. ground — the earth
  20. mug — to rob
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mug — a face

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