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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. perch — the fish
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. club — for dancing
  8. club — for golf
  9. capital — money
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — from a university
  12. club — a group
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. capital — a city
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. pass — a permit
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. degree — temperature

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