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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — to eat
  6. capital — money
  7. suit — to fit
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — crushed
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. pit — a hole
  12. capital — a city
  13. pit — in a race
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chip — for betting
  17. suit — clothes
  18. wind — moving air
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. ground — the earth
  21. suit — in cards
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. degree — from a university

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