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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: kick · capital · pound · pitcher · degree · clip

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. capital — money
  8. clip — a video
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. clip — for paper
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. clip — to cut
  18. degree — an amount

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