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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. degree — from a university
  3. spell — letters
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. capital — money
  6. degree — an amount
  7. ball — a great time
  8. spell — magic
  9. ball — a dance
  10. bass — low music
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pit — a hole
  13. spell — a short time
  14. pit — in a race
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bank — for money
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. perch — the fish
  20. bank — of a river
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bass — the fish
  24. capital — a city

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