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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: degree · bay · capital · snap · deal · cold

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. degree — an amount
  3. deal — to handle
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — not warm
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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