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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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Word bank
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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: net · cell · capital · toast · charge · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — a phone
  6. charge — electricity
  7. capital — a city
  8. charge — in control
  9. net — for catching
  10. capital — money
  11. charge — a price
  12. degree — from a university
  13. net — in sport
  14. degree — temperature
  15. net — after costs
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. toast — bread
  18. toast — the most admired

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