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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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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: wind · firm · degree · capital · march · board

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. degree — an amount
  3. march — the month
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. capital — a city
  7. march — music
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. board — a committee
  11. firm — a company
  12. wind — moving air
  13. firm — steady
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wind — moving air
  18. board — to get on

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