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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. saw — the tool
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bound — certain
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. saw — the tool
  11. degree — from a university
  12. capital — money
  13. bound — tied together
  14. club — for golf
  15. degree — temperature
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a match
  20. bound — obliged
  21. club — for dancing
  22. club — a group
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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