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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: race · ground · degree · capital · bore · wave

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bore — to drill
  5. ground — a position
  6. bore — to tire
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. ground — crushed
  10. capital — money
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. ground — the earth
  13. race — a contest
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. race — humankind
  18. degree — temperature

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