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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. can — a tin
  3. last — final
  4. capital — money
  5. bank — for money
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — a line
  8. bank — of a river
  9. tube — the underground
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. tube — a container
  13. can — a tin
  14. mine — for digging
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. capital — a city
  17. row — to paddle
  18. last — finally
  19. can — to be able to
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bank — for money
  24. last — to go on

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