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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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 big letter
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bat — the animal
  5. capital — a city
  6. suit — in cards
  7. current — of water
  8. bank — of a river
  9. suit — clothes
  10. cap — a hat
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. suit — to fit
  13. bank — for money
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cap — of ice
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. current — electric
  19. degree — temperature
  20. capital — money
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bank — for money
  23. lie — to recline
  24. current — happening now

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