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

Word bank: chest · pit · lie · capital · mate · band · fine · degree

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fine — high quality
  3. pit — a hole
  4. mate — to breed
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lie — to recline
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. fine — all right
  9. mate — a friend
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. mate — a partner
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — a city
  16. chest — a box
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. chest — of your body
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. band — a ring
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pit — in a race

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