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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — a phone
  6. march — music
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. row — a line
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — a city
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. march — the month
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. pass — a permit
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mouse — the animal
  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