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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rash — hasty
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. squash — the sport
  8. degree — from a university
  9. press — a publisher
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. rush — hurry
  12. bear — the animal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bear — the animal
  16. press — to push
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. press — newspapers
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. squash — to crush
  24. rash — a series

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