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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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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: degree · capital · drill · stick · kid · lean · chair · wake

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. degree — temperature
  10. capital — money
  11. chair — a leader
  12. capital — a city
  13. lean — thin
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — the tool
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. lean — to bend
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. drill — a practice

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