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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. track — to keep track
  6. drill — the tool
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. capital — money
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. degree — temperature
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. degree — an amount
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. track — a song
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. track — a path
  18. club — a group
  19. wound — an injury
  20. club — for golf
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. capital — a city
  24. degree — from a university

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