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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bulb · tear · toast · capital · stock · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. tear — from crying
  3. degree — temperature
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. bulb — for light
  6. capital — money
  7. stock — goods
  8. toast — bread
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. bulb — for light
  13. tear — from crying
  14. capital — a city
  15. degree — an amount
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. bulb — of a plant

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