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

Word bank: capital · cabinet · kid · pound · object · degree

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — a weight
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — a thing
  7. object — an aim
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. kid — to tease
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. degree — an amount
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child

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