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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: deal · cap · capital · degree · snap · spell · press · bark

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. 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. snap — to click
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. press — to push
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. degree — from a university
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. deal — to handle
  9. press — a publisher
  10. spell — a short time
  11. cap — a hat
  12. degree — temperature
  13. capital — a city
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cap — of ice
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — to shout
  20. spell — letters
  21. spell — magic
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cap — a lid
  24. 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