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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. capital — a city
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. capital — money
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — a coil
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. date — the fruit
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. spring — the season
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cabinet — ministers

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