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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. spell — letters
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. board — a committee
  6. spell — a short time
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. spell — magic
  10. capital — a city
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. wind — moving air
  14. board — to get on
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bass — low music
  23. capital — money
  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