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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. chest — of your body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. chest — a box
  7. capital — a city
  8. march — the month
  9. root — of a plant
  10. degree — from a university
  11. root — of a word
  12. degree — temperature
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mark — a trace
  15. capital — money
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. march — music
  21. root — the cause
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mark — a grade
  24. arm — a part of something

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