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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. cue — a hint
  4. cue — for pool
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cue — a signal
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — a short time
  11. shower — rain
  12. court — for sport
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. current — electric
  16. degree — from a university
  17. capital — a city
  18. court — of a king
  19. spell — magic
  20. capital — money
  21. degree — temperature
  22. court — of law
  23. current — of water
  24. current — happening now

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