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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bass — the fish
  5. squash — the sport
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mug — a face
  8. capital — a city
  9. mug — a cup
  10. squash — to crush
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bass — low music
  13. fall — the season
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. capital — money
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. fall — to drop
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. degree — an amount

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