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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: cell · degree · wake · land · stand · capital

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. land — to come down
  3. stand — to bear
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. degree — an amount
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cell — in biology
  9. degree — temperature
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. degree — from a university
  12. capital — a city
  13. land — a country
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. land — ground
  17. wake — a trail
  18. stand — for spectators

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