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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bank — for money
  3. capital — money
  4. cap — of ice
  5. bank — of a river
  6. race — a contest
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cap — a lid
  9. capital — a city
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. race — humankind
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bank — for money
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. march — the month
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kick — in football
  21. race — the arms race
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. cap — a hat
  24. degree — from a university

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