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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · degree · capital · wave · spring · dip

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. degree — an amount
  3. race — a contest
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. degree — from a university
  6. race — humankind
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. spring — a coil
  10. capital — a city
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. capital — money
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. spring — the season
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. degree — temperature
  17. race — the arms race
  18. spring — of water

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