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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 · wave · cell · root · degree · bear

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. root — of a word
  3. capital — a city
  4. bear — the animal
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. capital — money
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bear — the animal
  11. root — the cause
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. root — of a plant
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. cell — in biology
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. degree — temperature

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