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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 120 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. staff — employees
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. capital — a city
  5. staff — a stick
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — completely
  8. degree — from a university
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. degree — temperature
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. staff — employees
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bass — the fish
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. clip — a video
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bass — low music
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. degree — an amount
  23. perch — the fish
  24. clip — for paper

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