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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. bore — to tire
  4. degree — from a university
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. bore — to drill
  8. capital — money
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. scale — size or range
  12. capital — a city
  13. spell — magic
  14. ground — the earth
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bark — to shout
  19. chair — a leader
  20. ground — crushed
  21. ground — a position
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. scale — in music
  24. capital — a big letter

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