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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. net — for catching
  3. capital — a city
  4. net — after costs
  5. degree — an amount
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. fine — all right
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. degree — temperature
  14. kid — to tease
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. net — in sport
  17. fine — high quality
  18. kid — child
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. tear — to rip
  24. capital — money

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