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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. suit — clothes
  4. bore — to drill
  5. mine — for digging
  6. capital — a city
  7. wind — moving air
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. net — in sport
  11. bore — to tire
  12. court — of law
  13. degree — from a university
  14. suit — in cards
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. suit — to fit
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. net — for catching
  22. capital — money
  23. net — after costs
  24. wind — moving air

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