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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: cell · stock · capital · drill · degree · scale

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. cell — in biology
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. scale — in music
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. drill — army training
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. degree — from a university
  14. drill — the tool
  15. stock — goods
  16. drill — a practice
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cell — a phone

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