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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 120 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. spell — letters
  3. net — after costs
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. dip — to sink
  7. net — in sport
  8. spell — magic
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. degree — an amount
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. cap — a hat
  13. spell — a short time
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. degree — temperature
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. cap — a lid
  18. lie — to recline
  19. net — for catching
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. sharp — clever
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. cap — of ice

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