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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bass — low music
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. staff — a stick
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. roll — a list
  9. staff — employees
  10. degree — temperature
  11. club — for dancing
  12. degree — an amount
  13. club — for golf
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. capital — money
  16. roll — a cake
  17. staff — employees
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. degree — from a university
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. club — a group
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. bass — the fish
  24. mine — for digging

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