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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. capital — a city
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. bear — the animal
  8. rush — hurry
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. capital — money
  15. wake — a trail
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. bear — the animal
  18. kid — child
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. kid — to tease
  23. degree — temperature
  24. branch — of a bank

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