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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. track — a path
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. track — a song
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. kick — in football
  7. firm — steady
  8. root — of a plant
  9. degree — temperature
  10. root — of a word
  11. root — the cause
  12. game — wild animals
  13. firm — decided
  14. firm — a company
  15. spell — letters
  16. track — to keep track
  17. degree — from a university
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. degree — an amount
  20. spell — a short time
  21. game — a match
  22. spell — magic
  23. capital — a city
  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