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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bore — to drill
  4. capital — money
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. degree — temperature
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. row — to paddle
  13. capital — a city
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. degree — an amount
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. land — a country
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — a line
  21. shower — rain
  22. bore — to tire
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. bore — gave birth

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