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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  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. drill — the tool
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. capital — a city
  9. mate — to breed
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cap — a lid
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. ground — a position
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. mate — a partner
  16. drill — army training
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cap — of ice
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cap — a hat
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mate — a friend
  23. drill — a practice
  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