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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: capital · file · court · degree · pound · wave

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. capital — a city
  7. court — for sport
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. pound — a weight
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. degree — from a university
  12. file — a tool
  13. court — of law
  14. file — a document
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. court — of a king

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