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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.

Make a worksheet

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: capital · clip · wave · press · degree · net

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. degree — temperature
  6. press — newspapers
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. net — in sport
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. press — to push
  11. net — for catching
  12. clip — for paper
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — a video
  15. press — a publisher
  16. capital — money
  17. net — after costs
  18. wave — of the sea

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