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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fan · capital · bear · bat · degree · racket · arm · prune

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bear — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. capital — money
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bat — the animal
  12. degree — from a university
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bear — the animal
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. arm — part of the body

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