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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. object — to protest
  5. object — an aim
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — music
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. object — a thing
  11. row — to paddle
  12. capital — money
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. degree — an amount
  16. club — for dancing
  17. date — the fruit
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. degree — temperature
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. capital — a city
  22. club — a group
  23. row — a line
  24. club — for golf

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