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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: capital · roll · degree · ball · ground · cap · patient · land

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cap — of ice
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. ball — a great time
  6. degree — temperature
  7. ball — a dance
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. ground — a position
  11. roll — a cake
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — ground
  15. capital — money
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — a hat
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. ground — the earth
  23. land — a country
  24. roll — a list

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