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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 120 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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  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 — from a university
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rush — hurry
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tube — a container
  9. suit — in cards
  10. swing — music
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. swing — to play on
  14. suit — clothes
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. suit — to fit
  17. sharp — clever
  18. capital — a city
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. tube — the underground
  21. swing — in golf
  22. field — farmland
  23. degree — temperature
  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