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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. clip — for paper
  5. stem — to come from
  6. degree — from a university
  7. capital — a city
  8. rash — hasty
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. rock — a stone
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pound — a weight
  16. clip — to cut
  17. rock — music
  18. clip — a video
  19. degree — an amount
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. capital — money
  23. rash — a series
  24. rock — to move gently

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