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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — to handle
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cell — a phone
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. squash — the sport
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. degree — temperature
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mine — for digging
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mate — a partner
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. cell — in biology
  23. squash — to crush
  24. deal — a big deal

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