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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 116 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: vault · capital · degree · kid · wave · spell

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. capital — a city
  3. spell — letters
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. vault — a safe
  8. spell — magic
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spell — a short time
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. kid — to tease
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wave — of the sea

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