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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. degree — an amount
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. degree — temperature
  5. capital — money
  6. ground — a position
  7. date — the fruit
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. mark — a grade
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. mark — a trace
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. vault — a safe
  15. ground — crushed
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. degree — from a university
  18. ground — the earth
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. tear — from crying
  21. capital — a city
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. date — on the calendar

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