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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. squash — the sport
  4. game — wild animals
  5. squash — to crush
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. band — a ring
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. degree — an amount
  11. game — a match
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. band — a music group
  16. sharp — clever
  17. capital — money
  18. spell — a short time
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. degree — from a university
  22. spell — letters
  23. degree — temperature
  24. capital — a city

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