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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.

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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 · degree · lash · craft · bound · tear

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. craft — boats
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. bound — certain
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. bound — tied together
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — temperature
  14. craft — a skill
  15. bound — obliged
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. lash — an eyelash

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