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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. degree — temperature
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. prune — to trim
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rock — a stone
  10. fine — high quality
  11. rock — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bark — to shout
  15. fine — all right
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. file — a tool
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. file — a document
  24. bark — of a tree

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