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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: pass · wind · clip · wave · degree · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pass — a permit
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. clip — a video

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