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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 116 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. sharp — clever
  3. net — for catching
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. capital — money
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. net — after costs
  8. swing — music
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. swing — to play on
  13. capital — a city
  14. swing — in golf
  15. hand — help
  16. degree — an amount
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. degree — from a university
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bore — to drill
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. net — in sport

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