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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spell — a short time
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. capital — money
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. spell — magic
  9. swing — music
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. swing — to play on
  13. pitch — completely
  14. wax — to grow
  15. key — the most important part
  16. swing — in golf
  17. degree — temperature
  18. key — in music
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. spell — letters
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. key — for a lock
  24. racket — a loud noise

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