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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. key — in music
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fork — in a road
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. key — for a lock
  13. degree — temperature
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. capital — money
  17. hand — help
  18. capital — a city
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. hand — in cards
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. tear — to rip
  24. key — the most important part

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