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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. degree — temperature
  4. shower — rain
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. game — wild animals
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. prune — to trim
  15. degree — an amount
  16. deal — to handle
  17. shower — to wash
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. staff — employees
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. degree — from a university
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — a stick

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