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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 116 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: season · cell · race · degree · capital · pop

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. pop — music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. capital — money
  8. season — in sport
  9. race — the arms race
  10. degree — from a university
  11. race — humankind
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — to visit
  14. season — of the year
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. race — a contest
  17. capital — a city
  18. season — to add flavour

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