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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. saw — the tool
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. file — a line of people
  5. bound — obliged
  6. scale — in music
  7. scale — size or range
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bore — to drill
  10. file — a document
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. file — a tool
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — from a university
  16. capital — a city
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. bore — to tire
  19. press — a publisher
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — to push
  24. bound — certain

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