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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: wave · capital · rock · degree · kick · press · cell · face

  1. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. degree — from a university
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. face — to confront
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. press — a publisher
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. face — to point toward
  9. press — newspapers
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. press — to push
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — a phone
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. face — part of the head
  17. rock — music
  18. kick — in football
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. cell — in biology
  22. capital — money
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kick — a thrill

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