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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 · row · fork · capital · march · degree

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. degree — an amount
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. row — to paddle
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. capital — money
  8. degree — from a university
  9. fork — in a road
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cell — a phone
  12. march — music
  13. capital — a city
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — temperature
  16. row — a line
  17. march — the month
  18. fork — a garden tool

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