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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. degree — an amount
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. fine — all right
  5. cue — a hint
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cue — for pool
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. cue — a signal
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. pound — a weight
  17. cell — in biology
  18. degree — from a university
  19. capital — money
  20. degree — temperature
  21. foot — a measure
  22. capital — a city
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. pound — to hit hard

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