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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. pass — a permit
  3. capital — a city
  4. season — in sport
  5. stock — goods
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. degree — an amount
  11. capital — money
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. game — wild animals
  14. degree — from a university
  15. drill — army training
  16. sharp — clever
  17. season — of the year
  18. drill — the tool
  19. stock — shares
  20. degree — temperature
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — a match

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