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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mate — to breed
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. scale — in music
  6. mate — a friend
  7. capital — money
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. mate — a partner
  11. roll — a list
  12. degree — from a university
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. degree — temperature
  15. march — the month
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. capital — a city
  18. roll — a cake
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. scale — size or range
  22. march — the month
  23. lie — to recline
  24. march — music

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