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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · spell · capital · ruler · chest · stem

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. degree — temperature
  4. chest — of your body
  5. degree — from a university
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. capital — money
  12. degree — an amount
  13. stem — to come from
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — a short time

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