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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: degree · capital · cue · bowl · perch · clip · ball · mate

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. ball — a great time
  3. clip — for paper
  4. ball — a dance
  5. cue — a signal
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. cue — for pool
  9. mate — a friend
  10. mate — a partner
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. clip — to cut
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cue — a hint
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. mate — to breed
  23. capital — money
  24. clip — a video

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