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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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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 · perch · mate · swing · ruler

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — to breed
  6. capital — money
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. mate — a partner
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. swing — in golf
  11. degree — temperature
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. capital — a city
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. degree — an amount
  17. perch — the fish
  18. capital — a big letter

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