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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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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 · pit · stick · clip · chest · capital

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chest — a box
  4. clip — a video
  5. pit — a hole
  6. chest — of your body
  7. capital — a city
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. capital — money
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — an amount
  14. clip — to cut
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. pit — in a race

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