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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. capital — a city
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. spell — magic
  6. drill — army training
  7. degree — from a university
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. capital — money
  10. file — a document
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. drill — a practice
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. drill — the tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. degree — an amount
  22. spell — a short time
  23. degree — temperature
  24. file — a tool

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