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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cold — an illness
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. toast — bread
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. degree — an amount
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. capital — a city
  16. deal — to handle
  17. degree — temperature
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. tube — the underground
  20. cold — not warm
  21. tube — a container
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. capital — money

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