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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. clip — for paper
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. degree — temperature
  5. capital — money
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. chair — a leader
  9. pitch — completely
  10. content — the amount
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. clip — to cut
  15. content — happy
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. toast — bread
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. clip — a video
  22. rush — hurry
  23. capital — a city
  24. content — videos and posts

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