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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: degree · capital · drill · stick · kid · lean

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. kid — child
  6. degree — an amount
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. drill — a practice
  9. drill — army training
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. lean — thin
  12. lean — to bend
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. drill — the tool
  18. capital — money

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