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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: degree · capital · rush · field · present · saw · spell · key

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — there
  3. key — in music
  4. rush — hurry
  5. key — for a lock
  6. spell — magic
  7. capital — a city
  8. degree — temperature
  9. spell — a short time
  10. key — the most important part
  11. saw — the tool
  12. capital — money
  13. present — a gift
  14. spell — letters
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. field — farmland
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. field — for sport
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. field — a subject
  23. degree — from a university
  24. rush — to hurry

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