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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a ring
  4. tube — a container
  5. ground — the earth
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. ground — crushed
  8. kick — in football
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. degree — an amount
  13. capital — money
  14. degree — temperature
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. suit — to fit
  17. suit — in cards
  18. band — a music group
  19. ground — a position
  20. kid — child
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tube — the underground
  23. suit — clothes
  24. kid — to tease

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