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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 · sharp · hide · stem · wind · kick · rash · capital

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. capital — a city
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. rash — hasty
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. rash — a series
  10. capital — money
  11. kick — in football
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. degree — from a university
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. sharp — clever
  19. stem — to come from
  20. degree — an amount
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. degree — temperature

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