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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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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: capital · tear · lean · degree · swing · pit

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. lean — to bend
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. tear — from crying
  5. capital — money
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. tear — to rip
  8. pit — in a race
  9. lean — thin
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. degree — from a university
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pit — a hole
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — to play on

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