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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. capital — a city
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. ground — crushed
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hand — in cards
  9. ground — the earth
  10. fork — in a road
  11. degree — from a university
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. ground — a position
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. capital — money
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hand — help

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