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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. field — a subject
  3. bat — the animal
  4. dip — to sink
  5. degree — temperature
  6. field — for sport
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. degree — an amount
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. snap — to click
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. field — farmland
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. degree — from a university
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. capital — a city
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. capital — money

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