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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitcher · degree · game · file · stem · capital · pitch · wave

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. capital — money
  6. degree — from a university
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitch — completely
  13. file — a line of people
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. file — a tool
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. degree — temperature
  20. game — wild animals
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. game — a match
  23. stem — to come from
  24. file — a document

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