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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pop — soda
  4. hand — help
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rock — music
  7. march — the month
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. fork — in a road
  10. march — the month
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rock — a stone
  13. fall — the season
  14. capital — a city
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. march — music
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pop — to visit
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pop — music
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — in cards

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