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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. degree — from a university
  5. tube — the underground
  6. cell — in biology
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. rule — a law
  11. club — for golf
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bear — the animal
  14. rule — government
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. cell — a phone
  17. capital — a city
  18. club — a group
  19. branch — a division
  20. tube — a container
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. degree — an amount
  23. capital — money
  24. club — for dancing

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