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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: bear · degree · last · key · capital · rule

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. key — in music
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rule — a law
  5. key — for a lock
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bear — the animal
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. bear — the animal
  10. last — final
  11. rule — government
  12. last — finally
  13. capital — a city
  14. last — to go on
  15. degree — temperature
  16. key — the most important part
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money

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