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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a hint
  4. shower — rain
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. capital — a city
  8. degree — an amount
  9. ground — crushed
  10. kick — in football
  11. capital — money
  12. shower — to wash
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cue — a signal
  15. ground — a position
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. bear — the animal
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bear — the animal
  21. ground — the earth
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bowl — a football final

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