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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: tear · face · degree · bowl · capital · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. degree — from a university
  3. capital — a city
  4. face — to point toward
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. degree — an amount
  7. capital — money
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. tear — from crying
  12. face — part of the head
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. face — to confront

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