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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. row — a line
  6. land — a country
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. capital — money
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — ground
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. snap — to click
  13. capital — a city
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mate — a partner
  16. row — to paddle
  17. field — a subject
  18. mate — a friend
  19. field — farmland
  20. stand — to bear
  21. field — for sport
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. mate — to breed
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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