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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: cap · bulb · capital · straw · bat · degree · spring · lean

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bulb — for light
  7. spring — a coil
  8. lean — thin
  9. spring — of water
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. spring — the season
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bulb — for light
  18. cap — a lid
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. lean — to bend
  22. cap — of ice
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. cap — a hat

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