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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. net — after costs
  3. bound — obliged
  4. capital — money
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bear — the animal
  7. degree — temperature
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bound — tied together
  10. swing — music
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. spell — magic
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a city
  15. bound — certain
  16. swing — to play on
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. swing — in golf
  19. net — in sport
  20. ball — a dance
  21. bear — the animal
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. ball — a great time
  24. net — for catching

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