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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: degree · content · drill · temple · capital · kick

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. degree — an amount
  3. capital — money
  4. drill — the tool
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. capital — a city
  8. kick — in football
  9. content — happy
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. degree — from a university
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — a practice
  15. degree — temperature
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. content — the amount
  18. kick — with a leg

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