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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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 — from a university
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. lie — to recline
  5. pop — music
  6. degree — an amount
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. capital — a city
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. saw — the tool
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. pop — to visit
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. pop — soda
  23. cold — an illness
  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