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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: fall · pound · capital · pop · kick · degree

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. capital — money
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. fall — to drop
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. degree — from a university
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — soda
  11. kick — in football
  12. capital — a city
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. pop — to visit

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