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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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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: capital · lash · kid · degree · cell · saw

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. capital — a city
  9. saw — the tool
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. capital — money
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. degree — an amount

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