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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. mine — for digging
  5. present — there
  6. present — a gift
  7. present — the time now
  8. capital — money
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cap — a hat
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. last — finally
  13. degree — an amount
  14. last — final
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cap — of ice
  19. capital — a city
  20. last — to go on
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. bat — the animal
  24. degree — temperature

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