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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. fine — all right
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. degree — from a university
  7. drill — the tool
  8. fine — high quality
  9. capital — a city
  10. bass — low music
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. degree — temperature
  14. capital — money
  15. ball — a great time
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. drill — army training
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. spell — magic
  21. drill — a practice
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bass — the fish

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